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One thousand six hundred and fifty 
copies of this edition were print- 
ed in June, nineteen hundred and 
nine, of which this is nu inhered 
/(dSo. 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 








Painted for the Commercial Club by Jules Guerin. 



PLAN OF 

C HIC AGO 

PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 

THE COMMERCIAL CLUB 

DURING THE YEARS MCMVI, MCMVII, AND MCMVIII 



BY 

DANIEL H. BURNHAM 

AND 

EDWARD H. BENNETT 

ARCHITECTS 
EDITED BY 

CHARLES MOORE 

CORRESPONDING MEMBER AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 




CHICAGO 
THE COMMERCIAL CLUB 

MCMIX 






Copyright, iqoS 

BY 

COMMERCIAL CLUB OF CHICAGO 



LIBRARY of C0NGR£SS( 

Two Coofcs Received 

iUN 18 lU^JD 

./I Cuuynifm Entry ^ 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 



ORIGIN OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 



The tendency towards city life 

Problems of the great city .... 

Necessity for city-planning .... 

Economy and efficiency promoted by a city-plan 

Elements of a comprehensive plan . 

Influence of the World's Columbian Ex[)osition on city-planning in the United States 

The success of the Exposition due to competent direction and loyalty to Chicago 

Improvement of the Lake front proposed by the South Park Commissioners 

Expansion of the South Parks system 

The Commercial Club undertakes a plan of Chicago 

Progress of the work ... 

Scope of the undertaking 

An ideal arrangement proposed 

The Sjjirit of Chicago .... 



CHAPTER II 



CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 



Commerce, the leading motive in the building of citie 

Semiramis, the first city-builder 

The building of Babylon 

The pyramids and temples of Egypt 

The work of Pericles at Athens 

The development of Rome 

City-building during the Middle Ages 

Rise of the city during the Renaissance 

Origin and growth of Paris 

Paris built according to a definite plan 

Louis XIV. and his city-builders 

Napoleon Bonaparte begins the transformation of Paris 

Haussmann completes the transformation of Paris 

City-planning in Europe since 1872 . 

The influence of European peace on city-building 

City-planning in Germany . . 

The creation of new thoroughfares in London . 

Town-planning in England . . 

The L'Enfant plan of Washington 

The United States Senate Park Commission plan for Wash 



13 
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19 



CONTENTS 



The Cleveland grouij-plan . ... 

The Boston park system ..... 

City-planning in Baltimore, St. Louis and San Francisco 
Plans for Manila, and for a summer-capital at Baguio . 
Improvements in various American cities 



27 

27 
28 
28 
28 



CHAPTER III 

CHICAGO, THE METROPOLIS OF THE MIDDLE WEST 

The Old North-West Territory 

Reasons for expecting continuous growth in the Middle West 

Increase in the population of Chicago 

Recovery after the great fire of 187 1 

Chicago's population fifty years hence 

Attractions of city life ...... 

The suburbs of Chicago ..... 

Real-estate speculation subversive of good planning . 
The development of the suburb .... 

Dependence of the suburb on the municipality . 
Highways along Lake Michigan .... 

A system of highways for the territory within si.xty miles of Chicago 
Suburban transit facilities ..... 

The advantages of good roads .... 

Four sets of encircling highways proposed 
Highways parallel to railroads .... 

Suburban travel needs more comfortable conditions . 

The inllucnce of the electric-railway and the automobile on suijurban life 



31 
31 
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40 

41 
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CHAPTER IV 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM 



The motto of Chicago 

Beginnings of the Chicago Park system 

The Chicago boulevards 

Park legislation .... 

The small parks of Chicago 

A metropolitan park system proposed 

The Special Park Commission. 

London's larger parks 

The pleasures of Henley 

The great parks of Paris and Vienna 

Boston park reservations. 

The park system of the District of Columbia 

The possibility of a comprehensive park system for Chicago 

Treatment of the Chicago Lake front 

A system of lagoons and lake parkways proposed 

The acquisition and improvements of forest spaces 

Physical characteristics of the country surrounding Chicago 

An encircling system of forest parks. .... 



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49 
49 
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49 

50 
5° 
5..? 
5.S 
57 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER V 

TRANSPORTATION 

Chicago the creation of its railroads 

Present problems in transportation 

Congestion of railway traffic in 1906-07 

The necessity for improved terminals 

A freight center proposed for Chicago 

Advantages of such an arrangement 

Railroad and water traffic compared 

A loop-system for handling freight traffic 

Harbor freight and passenger coimections 

The location of passenger stations on Twelfth and Canal streets 

Terminal stations ..... 

The traction systems ..... 

Comfort an object in passenger transportation . 

A perfect passenger and freight handling machine 

The handling of the mails .... 

The suburban station ..... 

The necessity for, and advantages of, harmonious action among the Chicago railroads 

CHAPTER VI 

STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 

The dominant natural features of Chicago 

The need of new and enlarged channels of circulation 

Causes of the growth of cities .... 

Cleanliness the first consideration for city streets 

Residence streets 

The Avenue, or traffic-street 

The Boulevard 

Street architecture . 

Traffic interruptions 

The elliptical avenue 

The planning of new subdivisions 

The necessity for diagonal streets 

Proposed new circuits 

Improvement of the Chicago River 

CHAPTER Vn 

THE HEART OF CHICAGO 

Opportunity for creating a unified and convenient city 

The problem of overcoming congestion in the business-center 

Solution of the problem simple and natural 

Michigan Avenue : its importance in the city plan 

The proposed improvement of Michigan Avenue 

An elevated roadway ..... 

Bridges over the river ..... 

Improvement of Halsted Street 

Slums of Chicago ..... 

The slum represents the failure of the city to protect its people 



61 
61 
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64 
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70 
70 
73 
74 
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76 
78 
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79 
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95 
97 



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102 
103 
105 
106 
106 



CONTENTS 



The Financial Quarter ...... 

Grant Park as a spacious and attractive public garden 

Location of the Field Museum, the Crerar Library and the Art Institute 

A Center of Letters 

A yacht harbor 

Art as a source of wealth 

Public gifts by citizens . 

The opportunity offered for effective treatment of Chicago River banks 

The need of a main a.^is for Chicago 

Such an axis would give organic unity to the city 

Congress Street as the grand a.xis 

A Civic Center ...... 

Buildings to be comprised in the civic center 
Architectural treatment of the proposed buildings 
The landscape setting ..... 

Effectiveness depends on harmony and good order 

The civic center gives coherence to the city plan 

Great advantages which will result from the treatment proposed 



107 
108 
108 
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109 
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no 
no 
113 
113 
113 
115 
IIS 
116 
116 
117 

117 
118 



CHAPTER VIII 

PLAN OF CHICAGO 
The Plan a result of systematic study .... 

The cost involved in carrying out the work ... 

Wealth created by the growth of population .... 

The people are financially able to realize the Plan 

Three great public works undertaken by Chicago 

The public spirit of Chicago as shown in music, art and education 

Gifts for the public good ....... 

Reasons for believing that the public will favor the Plan of Chicago 
The Plan both practical and beautiful ..... 

The advantages to be derived from systematic development of Chicago 
Elements of the Plan reviewed ..... 

Improvement of the Lake front an economic necessity 

Ease of realizing the inter-urban highway system 

The transportation problem to be worked out by the railroads 

Additional parks necessary to the physical and mental well-being of the people 

The attractive city a source of both wealth and satisfaction 

APPENDIX 

LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 

Introductory .... 
Outer parks, boulevards, and circuits . 
City parks, squares, boulevards, and avenues 
Lake shore development . . 

Transportation problems 

Control of lands adjacent to public improvements 
Congested areas ..... 
Present borrowing and taxing powers . 
Conclusions ...... 

INDEX 



119 
119 
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120 
120 
120 
121 
121 
121 
121 
121 
122 
122 
122 

123 
124 



127 
130 
133 
137 
139 
139 
151 
151 
154 

157 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Bird's-eye view, showing the location of Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan, together with the surround- 
ing towns connected with the city by radiating arteries ........ Frontispiece 

Wood-cut of Chicago in 1834 ....... 

The World's Columbian E.xposition, Chicago, 1893 

The Court of Honor, showing effect of a uniform cornice line 
Plan showing orderly arrangement of buildings 

The Lake Front Park original plan, 1896 ....... 

Modified plan, 1904 ... .... 

The World's Columbian E.xposition; view of the Court of Honor, looking west 

The Pyramids at Gizeh ........ 

The Acropolis at Athens ........ 

The Greek Theatre at Syracuse, Sicily .... 

Plan showing Nero's Circus at Rome (First Century), Basilica of St. Peter (Fourth Century), and the prcs 
Cathedral of St. Peter (Sixteenth Century) .... 

An ancient Roman circus, near the Appian Way .... 

The Ponte Molle, Rome 

Transformation of the banks of the Seine in Paris 

Chronological views of the Place de la Bastile, Paris 

The transformation of Paris under Haussmann: plan showing the portion e.xecuted from 1S54 to 1889 

Paris. Plan proposed by M. Eugene Henard for additional radial arteries and an inner circuit boulevard 
on which would front the principal e.xisling administrative buildings and many public monuments 

Vienna. City center, in 1857, showing the fortifications ..... 
City center, after transformations made by order of Francis Joseph in 1857 

London. Plan of Aldwych and Kingsway connecting Holborn and the Strand 

London Traffic Commission's plan for new thoroughfares to overcome congestion, 1907 

Original plan of Washington designed by Peter Charles L'Enfant, 1791 

The L'Enfant plan of Washington as developed by the Senate Park Commission of 1901 

The Washington Monument, garden, and Mall, looking towards the Capitol; Senate Park Commission plan 

The Plaza and Union Station, Washington, begun in 1902 

Cleveland. Group- Plan ........ 

View from the civic center to the Lake 

Plan for the development of the entire city of San Francisco . 

Bird's-eye view of the plan of development for San Francisco 

Plans for the development of Manila, submitted to the Philippine Commission ljy D. H. Burnham, 1905 

Plan for a summer capital of the Philippine Islands, at Baguio 

Florence, Italy. Silhouette of towers ........... 30 

Chicago. Diagram of location with regard to the seven central States ....... 31 

Chicago, and diagram of Lake Michigan ............ ^t, 

Nancy, France. View of the Place Stanislas ........... 35 

Forest of Fontainebleau, France ............. 36 

Chicago. The Sheridan Road north of Glencoe ........... 37 

The Des Plaines River ; view near Madison Street bridge ...... 40 

General diagram of exterior highways encircling, or radiating from, the city .... 40 

The shore of Lake Michigan; view at the north line of Cook County ..... 41 

View of Lake Zurich, Illinois ............. 42 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



of streets, boulevards, park- 



Chicago. Winter view of Grant Park and the proposed harbor, looking east 

General map showing topography, waterways, and complete systen- 
ways, and parks ........ 

Berlin. Block plan showing the park system and proposed forest reserves 
Vienna. Block plan showing the park system and existing forest reserves 
District of Columbia. Block plan showing the park system and additions 
London. A view of Rotten Row in Hyde Park ..... 

Chicago. View of the city from Jackson Park to Grant Park, looking towards the west . 

Park development proposed for the Lake shore from Jackson Park to Wilmette 

View of the proposed park on the south shore, looking northwest towards the city 

View looking south over the lagoons of the proposed park for the south shore . 

Section through the park proposed for the south shore ..... 

The Midway Plaisance, showing the proposed waterway connecting the lagoons of Washington 
Park with those of Jackson Park ........ 

Typical view across the proposed south shore park ..... 

England. Henley-on-Thames: the regatta course ....... 

Henley-on-Thames : a regatta ......... 

Versailles, France. Plan of the palace, park, and gardens, and the great arteries leading to the g. 

View from the terrace, looking down the main a.xis 
Paris. View of the Sunken Garden in the Lu.xembourg Gardens .... 

St. Germain, France. View of an avenue in the forest and round-point 
Chicago. Plan of a park proposed on the main east-and-west axis of the city at Congress Street and Fifty 
second Avenue .... 

Plan of a park proposed at Western Boulevard and Garfield Boulevard, being an extension of 
Gage Park ............ 

Plan of a park proposed at the north branch of the Chicago River and Graceland A 

Plan of Sherman playground and park 

Mark White Square .... 

Hamilton Park ..... 

Sherman Park ; view of field house 

Sherman Park; view of swimming pool 

Diagram of a system of freight handling for land and water transportation 

Assembling-interchange; diagrams accompanying the report of the committee 

Sketch diagram of docks suggested at the mouth of the Chicago River 

Sketch diagram of docks suggested at the mouth of the Calumet River 

Diagram of the city and surrounding country, showing railroad circuits 

Diagram of the city center, showing the general location of existing freight yards and railroad 
lines, the present tunnel system and proposed circuit, and connections for all these services, 
running to the central clearing yards ....... 

Diagram of the city, showing complete system of inner circuits 
Dresden. Viaduct and railway station (Hauptbahn-hof) passing above the normal street level 
Vienna. A railway viaduct passing over an important street. ..... 

Chicago. Suggested arrangement of passenger stations west of the river. Subway scheme 

Suggested arrangement of passenger stations west of the river. Overhead scheme 

Diagram of city center, showing the proposed arrangement of railroad passenger stations, the 
complete traction system, including rapid transit, subway, and elevated roads, and the circuit 
subway line ............... 

Railroad rights-of-way and properties in the center of city and the existing radial arteries . 

Diagram of general scheme of street circulation and parks in relation to the areas covered by indus- 
tries and manufactures ............ 

Viaduct at Auteuil over the River Seine, Paris, France ......... 



43 

44 
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47 



51 
52 
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53 

54 
55 
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55 

56 

57 
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58 
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59 
60 
60 
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63 
64 
65 
67 



75 
76 

77 
78 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Chicago. The center of the city looking west, showing Grant Park, the harbor, and the civic center 
Plan of a complete system of street circulation and system of parks and playgrounds 
Plan of the street and boulevard system present and proposed .... 

View looking west over the city, showing the proposed civic center, the grand a.xis, Grant Park, and 
the harbor . . . . . ... 

Map showing the successive city limits ........ 

Diagram of general scheme of street circulation and parks in relation to the population 
Theoretical diagram of street circulation ........ 

Existing and proposed diagonal arteries ........ 

Paris. The Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, looking towards the Arc de Triomphe 

The Tuileries Gardens and Champs Elysees ........ 

The Champs Elysees, from the Place de la Concorde ...... 

View from the Arc de Triomphe along the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne 

System of traffic circulation proposed by M. Henard for public places ..... 

Theoretical diagram of the streets of Paris . 

Theoretical diagram of the streets of Moscow 

Theoretical diagram of the streets of Berlin. 

Theoretical diagram of the streets of London 

Chicago. View of Grand Boulevard .... 

View of the Lake Shore Drive 

Plan of the city, showing the general system of boulevards and parks existing and proposed 

View of Drexel Boulevard ............ 

View of Michigan Avenue, looking north ......... 

Intersection of the three branches of the Chicago River ...... 

View looking north on the south branch of the Chicago River ..... 

View of the south shore looking southeast over Grant Park ...... 

The proposed plaza on Michigan Avenue ......... 

Plan of the complete system of street circulation ; railway stations; parks; boulevard circuits and 
radial arteries; public recreation piers; yacht harbor, and pleasure boat piers; treatment of 
Grant Park; the main axis and the civic center ....... 

Plan of the center of the city, showing the present and proposed street and boulevard system 
Proposed boulevard to connect the north and south sides of the river .... 

Plan of Michigan Avenue from Twelfth Street to the river, and its extension on Pine Street to 
Chicago Avenue ......... 

Proposed boulevard and parkway on Michigan .-\ venue and Pine Street 
Proposed boulevard on Michigan Avenue ; view looking north from a point east of the Pulslic 
Library .......... 

View of Pine Street ......... 

Paris. View of the Rue de la Paix and the Column Vendome 

Chicago. Michigan Avenue, looking towards the south .... 

Sketch plan of the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Twelfth Street 

Preliminary sketch of the plaza at Michigan Avenue and Twelfth Street 

Proposed Twelfth Street boulevard at intersections with Michigan Avenue and Ashland Avenue 

Railway station scheme west of the river between Canal and Clinton streets 

Alternate railway station scheme west of the river between Canal and Clinton streets 

Plan of Grant Park and the harbor .......... 

Elevation of Grant Park and harbor and the eastern fafade of the city on Michigan Avenue 

Section looking north, taken through the proposed grand axis of the city 

Bird's-eye view at night of Grant Park ......... 

Proposed plaza on Michigan Avenue west of the Field Museum of Natural History . 
The business center of the city, within the first circuit boulevard .... 



79 

80 
80 



82 
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100 
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loS 
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112 
112 
112 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Chicago. Plan of the proposed group of municipal buildings or civic center . 

Elevation showing the group of buildings constituting the proposed civic center 
View, looking west, of the proposed civic center plaza and buildings 

Paris. The Place de la Concorde, looking over the Seine towards the Madeleine 

Dresden. The Zwingerhof ......... 

Vienna. The Ringstrasse ...... 

Rome. St. Peter's Cathedral ......... 

Chicago. View of the proposed development in the center of the city, from Twenty-second 
Avenue, looking towards the east 

Berlin. Spree Island ..... 

Chicago. The proposed civic center square. 

Study for the dome of the proposed civic center . 

View eastward to Lake Michigan 

"The Great Lakes" ..... 



Street to Chicago 



112 
112 
112 

114 
114 

114 

116 
118 
119 
124 



The drawings for the Plan of Chicago were executed by Ben E. Holden, Clarence E. Howard, Chester M. Davi- 
son, Chris U. Bagge, and Leo Strelka. Mr. Holden was identified with the study of the general plan and the 
park system, both in general and in detail; Mr. Howard with the Center of the City and the Railroads; and Mr. 
Davison with the treatment of the Lake Front. The plans for the Civic Center and for Grant Park were studied by 
Fernand Janin of Paris, who came to Chicago in 1908 for that especial purpose. The renderings by Jules Guerin 
were made during extended visits to Chicago in 1907, and again in 1908. The work of both Mr. Guerin and Mr. 
Janin appears over their names. The Sanitary District Map of the City of Chicago has been used in compiling the 
plan drawings. Plate XVH is compiled from plans published in "Les Transformations de Paris." 



THE COMMERCIAL CLUB OF CHICAGO 



Organized 1877; United with the Merchants Club, 1907. 



THE MERCHANTS CLUB COMMITTEE ON THE PLAN OF CHICAGO, 1906-7. Charles D. Norton, 
Chairman; Charles H. Wacker, V ice-Chairman; David R. Forgan, Treasurer; Walter H. Wilson, Chairman 
Finance Committee; 'Edward B. Butler, Frederic A.Delano; Daniel H. Burnham, /Irc/M/crf. 

THE COMMERCIAL CLUB COMMITTEES ON THE PLAN OF CHICAGO, 1907-08. 

Gener.al Committee. Charles D. Norton, Chairman; Charles H. Wacker, Vice-Chairman; Frederic 
A. Delano, Secretary; Walter H. Wilson, Treasurer; Adolphus C. Bartlett, Edward B. Butler, Clyde M. 
Carr, John V. Farwell, Jr., Joy Morton, Charles H. Thorne; Daniel H. Burnham, Architect. 

On Lake Front. Edward B. Butler, Chairman; Leslie Carter, Charles G. Dawes, John V. Farwell, 
Jr., Victor F. Lawson, Harold F. McCormick. 

On Boulevard to Connect the North and South Sides. Clyde M. Carr, Chairman; Charles H. Con- 
over, James L. Houghteling, Albert A. Sprague II., Charles H. Thorne, Frederic W. Upham, Charles 
H. Wacker. 

On Railway Terminals. Joy Morton, Chairman; Adolphus C. Bartlett, William J. Chalmers, Charles H. 
Hulburd, Chauncey Keep, Franklin MacVeagh, Cjtus H. McCormick, Martin A. Ryerson, John G. 
Shedd, Albert A. Sprague. 

THE COMMERCIAL CLUB COMMITTEES ON THE PLAN OF CHICAGO, 1908-9. 

General Committee. Charles D. Norton, Chairman; Charles H. Wacker, V ice-Chairman; Frederic 
A. Delano, Secretary; Walter H. Wilson, Treasurer; Adolphus C. Bartlett, Edward B. Butler, Clyde M. Carr, 
John V. Farwell, Charles L. Hutchinson, Rollin A. Keyes, Joy Morton, Charles H. Thorne; Daniel H. 
Burnham, Architect. 

On Lake Parks. Edward B. Butler, Chairman; Edgar A. Bancroft, William L. Brown, Charles G. 
Dawes, John V. Farwell, Harold F. McCormick, John J. Mitchell. 

On Streets and Boulevards. Clyde M. Carr, Cliairman; Charles H. Conover, Thomas E. Donnelley, 
James L. Houghteling, Albert A. Sprague II., Frederic W. Upham, Charles H. Wacker. 

On Railway Terminals. Joy Morton, Chairman; Adolphus C. Bartlett, Franklin MacVeagh, Cyrus 
H. McCormick, Martin A. Ryerson, John G. Shedd, Albert A. Sprague. 

On Interurban Roadways. Charles H. Thorne, Chairman; Benjamin Carpenter, Edward F. Carry, 
Homer A. Stilhvell, Charles L. Strobel. 

On Finance. Adolphus C. Bartlett, Cliairman; Charles G. Dawes, Charles L. Hutchinson, Albert A. 
Sprague, Walter H. Wilson. 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS 

PRIOR TO JUNE 1, 1909 



Adams, George E. 

Aldis, Arthur T. 

Aldis, Owen F. 

Alexander, William A. 

Allen, Benjamin 

Alvord, John W. 

American Radiator Company 

Armour, J. Ogden 

Armstrong, Frank H. 

Arnold, Bion J. 

Ayer, Edward E. 

Bailey, Edward P. 
Baker, Alfred L. 
Baker, Howard W. 
Bancroft, Edgar A. 
Banks, Alexander F. 
Barber, Bryant H. 
Barnes, Albert R. 
Barnhart, Kenneth 
Bartlett, Adolphus C. 
Bartlett, Charles L. 
Barton, Enos M. 
Bates, Onward 
Becker, Abraham G. 
Beidler, Francis 
Beifeld, Joseph 

Bigelow Brothers & Walker Com- 
pany 
Billings, Frank 
Birk, William A. 
Blair, Chauncey J. 
Blair, Henry A. 
Blair, Watson F. 
Bode, Frederick 
Booth, W. Vernon 
Bowen, Joseph T. 
Boynton, Charles T. 
Brand, Rudolph 
Bremer, Herman H. 
Brill, George M. 
Brown, William L. 
Buckingham, Clarence 



Buda Foundry & Manufacturing 

Company 
Buffington, Eugene J. 
Burley, Clarence A. 
Burnham, Daniel H. 
Bush, William H. 
Butler, Edward B. 
Butler, Estate of Hermon B. 
Butz, Otto C. 

Canby, Caleb H. 
Carpenter, Augustus A., Jr. 
Carpenter, Benjamin 
Carr, Clyde M. 
Carry, Edward F. 
Carton, Laurence A. 
Chalmers, William J. 
Chapin, S. B. & Company. 
Clark, John M. 
Clow, William E. 
Cochran, J. Lewis 
Cofran, John W. G. 
Comstock, Charles G. 
Condron, Theodore L. 
Conover, Charles H. 
Corwith, Charles R. 
Cowan, William K. 
Cowles, Alfred 
Cox, Rensselaer W. 
Crane, Charles R. 
Crane, Richard T. Jr. 
Crowell, Henry P. 
Cudahy, Michael 
Culver, Helen 
Cummings, D. Mark 
Cummings, Edmund A. 
Cunningham, Frank S. 

Dau, J. J. 
Dawes, Charles G. 
Day, Chapin A. 
Deering, Charles 
Deering, James 

xvi 



Delano, Frederic A. 
Dewes, Francis J. 
Dewey, Albert B. 
De Wolf, Wallace L. 
Dick, Albert B. 
Dixon, Arthur 
Donnelley, Thomas E. 
Downey, Joseph 
Durand, Elliott 

Earling, Albert J. 

Eckhart, Barnard A. 

Eckstein, Louis 

Edward Hines Lumber Company 

Eisendrath, Joseph N. 

Eitel, Emil 

Ellsworth, James W. 

Ewen, John M. 

Fair, Robert M. 

Falkenau, Victor 

Farwell, Granger 

Farwell, John V. 

Fay, Charles N. 

Felton, Samuel M. 

Ferguson, Louis A. 

Fetzer, John C. 

Field, John S. 

Field, Stanley 

Findeisen & Kropf Manufacturing 

Company 
Foote, Erastus 
Foreman, Edwin G. 
Forgan, David R. 
Forgan, James B. 
Frost, Albert C. 
Fuller, William A. 

Gardner, William A. 
Gerstenberg, Erich G. 
Gilbert, Harry K. 
Glessner, John J. 
Goodman, Herbert E. 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS 



Granger, Alfred H. 
Greeley-Howard Company 
Gregory, Robert B. 
Grey, Charles F. 
Grosscup, Peter S. 
Gurley, William W. 

Hamill, Ernest A. 
Hammond, Robert R. 
Hardy, F. A. & Company 
Harris, George B. 
Harris, John F. 
Harris, Joseph 
Harris, Norman W. 
Hart, H. Stillson 
Haskell, Frederick T. 
Hately, John C. 
Haugan, Helge A. 
Hewitt, Charles M. 
Heyworth, James O. 
Heyworth, Lawrence 
Holt, George H. 
Hoover, Frank K. 
Horton, George T. 
Horton, Horace E. 
Houghteling, James L. 
Hoyt, William M. 
Hughitt, Marvin 
Hulbert, Edmund D. 
Hulburd, Charles H. 
Hull, Morton D. 
Hurley, Edward N. 
Hutchins, James C. 
Hutchinson, Charles L. 

Insull, Samuel 
Isham, Mrs. R. N. 

Jackson, George W. 
James, Fred S. 
Johnson, Frank S. 
Johnston, Hugh ^IcBirney 
Jones, Arthur B. 
Jones, David B. 
Jones, Frank H. 
Jones, William D. 

Keep, Chauncey 
Kelley, William V. 
Kenna, Edward D. 
Kent, William 



Kesner, Jacob L. 
Keyes, Rollin A. 
Kimball, Charles F. 
Kimball, W. W. Co. 
Kurz, Adolph 

Laflin, Louis E. 
Lamont, Robert P. 
Langhorst, Henry A. 
Lathrop, Bryan 
Lawrence, Dwight 
Lawson, Victor F. 
Lefens, Thies J. 
Leicht, Edward A. 
Lincoln, Robert T. 
Lindgren, John R. 
Linn, William R. 
Lobdell, Edwin L. 
Logan, Frank G. 
Lombard, Isaac G. 
Lord, John B. 
Lowden, Frank O. 
Lynch, John A. 
Lyon, John K. 
Lytton, Henry C. 

MacVeagh, Franklin 
Madlener, Albert F. 
Magnus, August C. 
Mandel, Leon 
Mark, Clayton 
Martin, William P. 
Matz, Rudolph 
Mayer, Levy 
McCord, Alvin C. 
McCormick, Cyrus H. 
McCormick, Harold F. 
McCullough, Hiram R. 
McLaughlin, William F. 
Meeker, Arthur 
Mendius, Carl 
Merry weather, George 
Miller, Darius 
Miller, Harry L 
Miller, John S. 
Miner, William H. 
Mitchell, John J. 
Mitten, Thomas E. 
Modjeski, Ralph 
Morris, Edward 
Morron, John R. 



Morton, Joy 
Morton, Mark 
Murdock, Thomas 

Norlin, Fred 
Norton, Charles D. 
Noyes, Frank B. 
Noyes, La Verne W. 

Ortmann, Rudolph 
Ortseifen, Adam 
Otis, Joseph E. Estate 
Otis, Spencer 

Paepcke, Hermann 
Palmer, Honore 
Palmer, Percival B. 
Palmer, Potter, Jr. 
Paper Mills Company, The 
Patten, James A. 
Peabody, Francis B. 
Peabody, Francis S. 
Pirie, John T., Jr. 
Pitkin, Edward H. 
Pool, Marvin B. 
Pope, Henry 
Porter, Henry H. 
Porter, Henry H., Jr. 
Potter, Edwin A. 

Rawson, Frederick H 
Rehm, William H. 
Revell, Ale.xander H. 
Reynolds, George M. 
Rickcords, George E. 
Ripley, Edward P. 
Robinson, Theodore W. 
Rogers, Brown & Company 
Rosenthal, Benjamin J. 
Rosenwald, Julius 
Rubens, Harry 
Rudolph, Franklin 
Russell, Edmund A. 
Russell, Brewster & Company 
Ryerson, Edwin L. 
Ryerson, Martin A. 

Sard, William H. 
Sargent, George M. 
Scott, John W. 
Scully, Arthur B. 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS 



Sears, Richard W. 
Seipp, Philip W. 
Selz, J. Harry 
Shaffer, John C. 
Shaffner, Joseph 
Shedd, Edward A. 
Shedd, John G. 
Shirk, Elbert W. 
Simpson, James 
Skinner, Edward M. 
Smith, Byron L. 
Smith, Mrs. George T. 
Smith, Orson 
Smith, Walter B. 
Soper, James P. 
Spoor, John A. 
Sprague, Albert A. 
Sprague, Otho S. A. 
Starring, Mason B. 
Stevens, Charles A. 
Stillwell, Homer A. 
Strobel, Charles L. 
Stumer, Louis M. 
Sullivan, Roger C. 
Sunny, Bernard E. 
Swift, Charles H. 



Swift, Edward F. 
Swift, George B. 
Swift, Louis F. 

Theurer, Joseph 
Thoman, Leroy D. 
Thomas, Benjamin 
Thompson, John R. 
Thompson, William M. 
Thorne, Charles H. 
Thorne, George R. 
Tilden, Edward 
Tilt, Joseph E. 
Turner, Edward A. 

Uhrlaub, Adolph 
Uihlein, Edgar J. 
Upham, Frederic W. 

Van Valkenburg, William 
Viles, James, Jr. 

Wacker, Charles H. 
Walker, Henry H. 
Wallace, John F. 
Ward, A. Montgomery 



Warner, Ezra J. 

Warren, William S. 

Watson, J. V. 

Watson, William J. 

Wells, Addison E. 

Wells, M. D. Company 

Wheeler, Arthur D. 

Wheeler, Charles P. 

Wheeler, Harry A. 

Wilder, John E. 

Wilder, T. Edward 

Willard, Daniel 

Willing, Mark S. 

Willits, Ward W. 

Wilmarth, Mrs. Mary J. 

Wilson, John P. 

Wilson, Walter H. 

Winchell, Benjamin L. 

Winston, Frederick S. 

Winston, Payne, Strawn & Shaw 

Wolff, L. Manufacturing Company 

Wrenn, John H. 

Young, Charles O. 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 




II. WOOD-CUT OF CHICAGO IN 1834. 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



CHAPTER I 

ORIGIN OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO: THE WORLD'S COLUMBL\N EXPOSITION OF 1893 AND ITS 

RESULTS: THE SPIRIT OF CHICAGO 

HE tendency of mankind to congregate in cities is a marked char- 
acteristic of modem times. This movement is confined to no one 
country, but is world-wide. Each year Rome, and the cities of 
the Orient, as well as Berlin, New York, and Chicago, are adding 
to their population at an unprecedented rate. Coincident with this 
urban development there has been a widespread increase in wealth, 
and also an enlarged participation on the part of the people in the 
work of government. As a natural result of these causes has come 
the desire to better the conditions of living. Men are becom- 
ing convinced that the formless growth of the city is neither eco- 
nomical nor satisfactory; and that overcrowding and congestion of traffic paralyze the vital 
functions of the city. The complicated problems which the great city develops are now seen not 
to be beyond the control of aroused public sentiment; and practical men of affairs are turning 
their attention to working out the means whereby the city may be made an efficient instrument 
for providing all its people with the best possible conditions of living. 

Chicago, in common with other great cities, realizes that the time has come to bring order out 
of the chaos incident to rapid growth, and especially to the influx of people of many nationalities 
without common traditions or habits of life. Among the various instrumentalities designed to 
accomplish this result, a plan for a well-ordered and convenient city is seen to be indispensable; 
and to the task of producing such a plan the Commercial Club has devoted its energies for the 
past three years. 

It is not to be expected that any plan devised while as yet few civic problems have received 




2 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

final solution will be perfect in all its details. It is claimed for the plan herein presented, that 
it is the result of extended and careful study of the needs of Chicago, made by disinterested men 
of wide experience, amid the very conditions which it is sought to remedy; and that during the 
years devoted to its preparation the plan has had the benefit of varied and competent criticism. 
The real test of this plan will be found in its application; for, such is the determination of the 




m. THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, CHICAGO, 1893. 
The Court of Honor, looking towards the Peristyle. 

people to secure more perfect conditions, it is certain that if the plan is really good it will com- 
mend itself to the progressive spirit of the times, and sooner or later it will be carried out. 

It should be understood, however, that such radical changes as are proposed herein cannot 
possibly be realized immediately. Indeed, the aim has been to anticipate the needs of the future 
as well as to provide for the necessities of the present: in short, to direct the development of the 
city towards an end that must seem ideal, but is practical. Therefore it is quite possible that 
when particular portions of the plan shall be taken up for execution, wider knowledge, longer 
experience, or a change in local conditions may suggest a better solution; but, on the other hand. 




c a 
z fa 



C £ 



SH 



4 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

before any departure shall be determined upon, it should be made clear that such a change is 
justified. 

If many elements of the proposed plan shall seem familiar, it should be remembered that 
the purpose has not been to invent novel problems for solution, but to take up the pressing needs 
of to-day, and to find the best methods of meeting those requirements, carrying each particular 
problem to its ultimate conclusion as a component part of a great entity, — a well-ordered, 
convenient, and unified city. 

This conception of the task is the justification of a comprehensive plan of Chicago. To 
many who have given little consideration to the subject, a plan seems to call for large expendi- 
tures and a consequent increase in taxation. The reverse is the case. It is certain that civic 
improvement will go on at an accelerated rate; and if those improvements shall be marshaled 
according to a well-ordered plan great saving must result. Good order and convenience are 
not expensive; but haphazard and ill-considered projects invariably result in extravagance and 
wastefulness. A plan insures that whenever any public or semi-public work shall be undertaken, 
it will fall into its proper and predetermined place in the general scheme, and thus contribute 
to the unity and dignity of the city. 

The plan frankly takes into consideration the fact that the American city, and Chicago pre- 
eminently, is a center of industry and traffic. Therefore attention is given to the betterment of 
commercial facilities; to methods of transportation for persons and for goods; to removing the 
obstacles which prevent or obstruct circulation; and to the increase of convenience. It is real- 
ized, also, that good workmanship requires a large degree of comfort on the part of the workers 
in their homes and their surroundings, and ample opportunity for that rest and recreation with- 
out which all work becomes drudgery. Then, too, the city has a dignity to be maintained; and 
good order is essential to material advancement. Consequently, the plan provides for impres- 
sive groupings of public buildings, and reciprocal relations among such groups. Moreover, con- 
sideration is given to the fact that in all probability Chicago, within the lifetime of persons now 
living, will become a greater city than any existing at the present time ; and that therefore the 
most comprehensive plans of to-day will need to be supplemented in a not remote future. 
Opportunity for such expansion is provided for. 

The origin of the plan of Chicago can be traced directly to the World's Columbian Exposi- 
tion. The World's Fair of 1893 was the beginning, in our day and in this country, of the orderly 
arrangement of extensive public grounds and buildings. The result came about quite naturally. 
Chicago had become a commercial community wherein men were accustomed to get together 
to plan for the general good. Moreover, those at the head of affairs were, many of them, the same 
individuals who had taken part in every movement since the city had emerged from the con- 
dition of a mere village. They were so accustomed to results even beyond their most sanguine 
predictions, that it was easy for them to believe that their Fair might surpass all fairs that 
had preceded it. 

Then, too, the men of Chicago, trained in intense commercial activity, had learned the lesson 
that great success cannot be attained unless the special work in hand shall be entrusted to those 
best fitted to undertake it. It had become the habit of our business men to select some one 
to take the responsibility in every important enterprise; and to give to that person earnest, loyal, 
and steadfast support. Thus the design and arrangement of the buildings of the World's 
Columbian Exposition, which have never been surpassed, were due primarily to the feeling of 



o ° o 



•^,/ 



MAP OF THE 

P/LT!]!.,DIlMC?rS AMD GROITNOS 



•O.N 






y ..... ^^ 



^! 



1^^ 



V. THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION GROUNDS IN JACKSON PARK. 
Plan showing the harmonious arrangement of buildings. 



6 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

loyalty to the city and to its undertakings; and secondly, to the habit of entrusting great works 
to men trained in the practice of such undertakings.' 

The results of the World's Fair of 1893 were many and far-reaching. To the people of 
Chicago the dignity, beauty, and convenience of the transitory city in Jackson Park seemed to 
call for the improvement of the water front of the city. With this idea in mind, the South Park 
Commissioners, during the year following the Fair, proposed the improvement of the Lake 



THE SOUTH SMOPE OOIVE 




VI. THE LAKE FRONT PARK, EXTENDING FROM JACKSON PARK TO GRANT PARK, ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE 

OF LAKE MICHIGAN. 
Original plan, 1896. 

front from Jackson Park to Grant Park. Following out this suggestion, a plan for a connection 
between the two parks was drawn to a large scale, and the project was presented at a meeting of 
the West and South Park Commissioners. Later this design was exhibited at a dinner given by 
the Commercial Club; and many business men were emphatic in expressing their conviction that 
the proposed scheme would be of enormous value to Chicago, and that it should be adopted 
and carried into execution. This was the inception of the project for a park out in the Lake, 
having a lagoon between it and the shore. 

During the next three or four years more careful studies of the Lake front scheme were made, 
and very large drawings were prepared for a meeting at the Women's Club and the Art Institute, 

' A significant illustration of the spirit in which the World's Fair work was conceived is found in one incident. On the appointed 
day the architects assembled to submit to the general committee sketches for their several buildings. There had been a luncheon, 
prolonged by animated discussion. The scheme as a whole had begun to take hold of the men. The short winter afternoon was 
approaching an end, when Richard M. Hunt (then the dean of the architectural profession), suffering from the severe pains of rheuma- 
tism, slowly arose to speak of the Administration Building, a sketch of which he fastened to the wall. The New York architect who 
followed Mr. Hunt had on his building a dome four hundred and fifty feet high. Instantly a murmur ran around the group. The 
designer turned from the sketch. "I think," he said, with deliberation, "I shall not advocate that dome; and probably I shall modify 
the building." There was a breath of satisfaction. The next architect had a portico extending out over the terrace. Without wait- 
ing for criticism, he said he should draw the portico back to the face of the building. As one by one each man fastened his sketch to 
the wall, it was as still as death in the room; and those present could feel the great work drawing them as by a magnet; and each 
was willing to sacrifice his personal ideas to secure the unity of the whole composition. Finally the last drawing was shown; the last 
ex-planation had been made. Mr. Saint-Gaudens, who had sat in a corner all day listening, but never speaking and scarcely moving, 
went over to Mr. Burnham, and taking both his hands exclaimed: "Do you realize that this is the greatest meeting of artists since the 
fifteenth century?" 



ORIGIN OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 7 

and for a Merchants Club dinner at the Auditorium. The newspapers and magazines, both 
at home and throughout the country, united in commenting on and commending the undertak- 
ing; and during the decade that has elapsed since the plans were first presented, the proposed 
improvement has never been forgotten, but has ever been looked upon as something sure to be 
accomplished. This was the beginning of a general plan for the city. 

While these projects were in course of preparation, an extensive expansion of the South Parks 



PLAN OF 
SOVTH SHORp DRJVE £. WATERWAV 



b-H-OFVl^niAM 




VII. THE LAKE FRONT PARK, EXTE.VDIN'G FROM JACKSON PARK TO GRANT PARK, ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE 

OF LAKE MICHIG(\N. 
Modified plan, 1904. 

system was in progress, and a plan was formulated for a metropolitan park system, including an 
outer belt of parks and parkways. These movements were started with energy in 1903, under 
the general direction of the South Park Commissioners and the Special Park Commission; and 
the results of their work have been useful to those who have undertaken the present task. 

Early in 1906 the Merchants Club arranged for the preparation of a complete project for 
the future development of Chicago. In order to facilitate the progress of the work, rooms were 
built on the roof of Railway Exchange Building, where the drawings have been prepared and the 
studies have been made. The Merchants Club and the Commercial Club having been merged 
in 1907 under the name of the latter organization, the work has continued under the auspices of 
that association. The committee on the plan has held several hundred meetings; during many 
weeks meetings have taken place daily; and throughout the entire time no week has passed with- 
out one or more such gatherings. By invitation of the Club, the Governor of Illinois, the Mayor 
of Chicago, and many other public officials have visited the rooms where the work was in progress, 
and have become familiar with the entire scheme as it was being worked out. The Department of 
State, tlirough the United States consuls in various European cities, has furnished valuable infor- 
mation relative to civic developments now in progress. Thus the plans have had the benefit of 
many criticisms and suggestions, made by persons especially conversant with existing conditions. 



8 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

Moreover, visitors interested in the improvement of cities and in park work of all kinds have 
come from both our own and foreign towns; and from them also much of value and encourage- 
ment has been gained. 

In presenting this report, the Commercial Club realizes that from time to time supplemen- 
tary reports will be necessary to emphasize one feature or another which may come prominently 
before the public for adoption. At the same time, it is confidently believed that this presentation 
of the entire subject accomplishes the task which has been recognized from the outset, namely: 

First, to make the careful study of the physical conditions of Chicago as they now exist; 

Second, to discover how those conditions may be improved; 

Third, to record such conclusions in the shape of drawings and texts which shall become a 
guide for the future development of Chicago. 

In creating the ideal arrangement, every one who lives here is better accommodated in his 
business and his social activities. In bringing about better freight and passenger facilities, every 
merchant and manufacturer is helped. In establishing a complete park and parkway system, the 
life of the wage-earner and of his family is made healthier and pleasanter; while the greater 
attractiveness thus produced keeps at home the people of means and taste, and acts as a magnet 
to draw those who seek to live amid pleasing surroundings. The very beauty that attracts him 
who has money makes pleasant the life of those among whom he lives, while anchoring him and 
his wealth to the city. The prosperity aimed at is for all Chicago. 

This same spirit which carried out the Exposition in such a manner as to make it a lasting 
credit to the city is still the soul of Chicago, vital and dominant; and even now, although many 
new men are at the front, it still controls and is doing a greater work than it was in 1893. It 
finds the men; it makes the occasion ; it attracts the sincere and unselfish; it vitalizes the organ- 
ization, and impels it to reach heights not believed possible of attainment. This spirit still exists. 
It is present to-day among us. Indeed, it seems to gather force with the years and the oppor- 
tunities. It is even now impelling us to larger and better achievements for the public good. It 
conceals no private purpose, no hidden ends. This spirit — the spirit of Chicago — is our great- 
est asset. It is not merely civic pride: it is rather the constant, steady determination to bring 
about the very best conditions of city life for all the people, with full knowledge that what we as 
a people decide to do in the public interest we can and surely will bring to pass. 




vm. THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. VIEW OF THE COURT OF HONOR, LOOKING WEST. 
From a painting by Moran. 




IX. THE PYRAMIDS AT GIZEH. 

CHAPTER II 

CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES: COMMERCE A LEADING MOTIVE IN CITY 
BUILDING: BABYLON, EGYPT, ATHENS, AND ROME: MEDLEVAL CITIES: THE DEVELOPMENT 
OF PARIS: CITY PLANNING IN GERMANY: OVERCOMING CONGESTION IN LONDON: WASH- 
INGTON A CITY BUILT ON A PLAN: OTHER AMERICAN CITIES 




♦S- "^^a 



-^ ROM earliest times, two motives have governed the location of 
cities: either the site vi^as selected because it offered natural 
means of defense, or else commerce gathered men at a particular 
point, about which they built fortifications. In either case, the 
necessity of protection against enemies from without conditioned 
the form and arrangement of the city. Even in this western 
hemisphere the question of defense has been of moment. Louis- 
burg and Quebec; Boston, New York, and Yorktown; Mackinac 
and New Orleans; Charleston, Mobile, Vicksburg, and New 
' Orleans again, — are names which recall sieges and battles of three 



wars; while the walled towns of Europe find their counterparts in the palisaded settlements 
which sprang up in the Indian country of North America, Chicago itself being a typical example. 

9 



lo PLAN OF CHICAGO 

It is only within recent times that the city has been able to extend its borders free from the 
restraints imposed by the necessity of warding off a foe. 

The first city-builder whose exploits are recorded was Semiramis, queen of Babylon; and 
although the history of that country, as recorded on its monuments, fails to mention even the 

name of this war-like ruler, we may 
, not disregard the circumstantial ac- 

I counts given by classical writers of 

the greatest commercial city of ancient 

times. Diodorus tells us that Semir- 

" \, *ivi.- amis, being of an aspiring spirit and 

anxious to excel all her predecessors 
in glorious actions, set about building 
a great city in the province of Babylon. 
First she had complete plans prepared 
by her architects and artists, then she 
assembled from all parts of her empire 
the men necessary for the work of 
construction. For the promotion of 
commerce, she located the city on the 
banks of the river Euphrates; and 
X. THE ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS. ^ound about it she built a wall, very 

From a water-color by E. H. Bennett. 

high, fortified with many turrets, and 
so broad at the top that thereon chariots might be driven abreast. Across the river she tlirew a 
bridge five furlongs in length, with arches having a span of twelve feet. Along either shore of 
the river she raised a bank as broad as the wall; and temporarily turning aside the course of the 
stream, she made in the bed of the river a passage in 
the form of a tunnel to serve as a connection between 
her two palaces, which were also lookouts whence 
she could command every portion of the city. Other 
cities on the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates 
Semiramis built, and there she established traffic 
centers for the vending of merchandise brought from 
Media, Persia, India, Egypt, and other countries 
reached by the two great rivers, which in those 
ancient times vied with the Nile and the Ganges. 
So by her able policy she greatly enriched the .^i._ 

merchants who trafficked in those parts, and 
advanced the glory and majesty of Babylon. 

,_, . _, . 11-11 XI. THE GREEK THEATRE AT SYRACUSE, SICILY. 

The ancient Egyptians, hemmed in by deserts, prom a water-color by e. h. Bennett, 

relied less on walls than on the defenses provided 

by nature. Thus relieved from the necessity of building fortifications, they expended 
their energies in such monumental works as the Great Pyramids and temples that embody a 
civilization which for at least nine thousand years has been the wonder and the admiration of 
the world. 




CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES ii 



Means of defense having been provided, the desire of mankind for order and magnificence 
found expression in works of adornment, which were measured only by the love of the citizens 
for their city, the artistic sense developed among the people, and the means at their disposal 
for carrj'ing out their conceptions. No- 
where else have these conditions been 
combined as they were in Athens dur- 
ing the days of Pericles. Year by year 
the patient excavator is bringing to the 
light the massive walls by which the 
early Athenians protected their citadel 
against the invader; and when security 
had been obtained and the tribute of 
the allies had accumulated in the treas- 
ury, the Greek passion for beauty found 
expression in public buildings which 
through the ages have placed the 
Acropolis at Athens among the world's 
famous places. Plutarch lays emphasis 
on the fact that undertakings, any one 
of which singly might have required 
for its completion several successions 
and ages of men, were every one of 
them accomplished in the height and 
prime of one man's political service. 
"Pericles' works," this same writer 
asserts, "were especially admired be- 
cause they were made quickly to last 
long. For every particular piece of his 
work was immediately, even at that 
time, for its beauty and elegance, 
antique; and yet in its vigor and fresh- 
ness looks to this day as if it were just 
executed. There is a sort of bloom of 
newness upon those works of his, pre- 
serving them from the touch of time, as 
if they had some perennial spirit and 
undying vitality mingled in the compo- 
sition of them." 

As Athens represents the highest 
expression of civic beauty which mankind has witnessed, so Rome stands for power and the 
magnificence thereof. Mistress of the world she styled herself; and to-day she can still 
lay claim to her other proud title of the " Eternal City." It is not until we come to 
Roman times that we begin to obtain the combination of elements which are the chief 
characteristics of the modern city; namely, opportunities for the healthful life of the great body 




XII. PL^N SHOWING NERO'S CIRCUS AT ROME (FIRST CEN- 
TURY), B.\SIUCA OF ST. PETER (FOURTH CENTURY), AND THE 
PRESENT C.\THEDRAL OF ST. PETER (SIXTEENTH CENTURY). 
These structures were built at successive epochs, on the same site. 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 




XIII. AN ANCIENT ROMAN CIRCUS, NEAR THE APPIAN WAY. 
From an etching by Piranesi. 



of the citizens. "Parks, gardens, commons, and public squares," says Lanciani, "have been 
happily compared to the lungs of a city; and if the health and general welfare of a city depend 
upon the normal and sound function of its respiratory organs, ancient Rome, in this respect, must 
be considered as the healthiest city 
which has ever existed on earth." ' 
This writer enumerates, as existing at 
the end of the third century after Christ, 
eight commons, or green spaces, set 
apart mostly for foot-races and gym- 
nastic exercises; eighteen public squares, 
and about thirty parks and gardens, at 
first laid out by private citizens for their 
personal comfort, but afterwards ab- 
sorbed into the imperial domain by 
purchase, bequest, or confiscation. Be- 
sides these were the cemeteries, marble 
cities of the dead, shadowed by stately 
cypresses and weeping- willows; the 
sacred enclosures of the temples, with 

^, . , , If.- ^1 XIV. THE PONTE MOLLE, ROME, 

their colonnades and fountams; the From an etching by Piranesi. 

' Ancient Rome, Chap. IV. 




CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 13 

porticoes, expressly built for the sake of allowing citizens to move about pleasantly in hot or 
rainy weather; and lastly, the great baths, establishments provided with every possible comfort 
and accommodation to insure the health of the body and the education of the mind." 

Out of the original market-place occupying the marshy ground between the Palatine and the 
Capitol, the Roman Forum was gradually evolved, with temples, treasure-houses, places for for- 
eign ambassadors, the senate-house, the court-house, triumphal arches, and historic monuments. 
Here was indeed the civic center of Rome, the place of religion, business, and politics. Adjoin- 
ing the Forum proper were other forums, gifts to the state, purchased at a cost, in the case of 
Caesar's Forum, of $44.45 ^ square foot, or over four million dollars. Trajan's gift of land alone 
amounted to four times that sum, and the completed work was reckoned the masterpiece of 
Roman architecture of the golden age. 

The baths of Rome, both public and private, had accommodations for 62,800 citizens at 
a single time, and also every Roman house was provided with bathing facilities. Beautiful 
porticoes enabled one to cross under shelter the whole plain of the Campus Martius, a space of 
between two and three miles; and similar structures connected all the great buildings of the city, 
serving for markets and exchanges and picture-galleries, and ministering to a thousand different 
wants. Lovely gardens, with thickets of box, laurel, and myrtle, with lakes and fountains, were 
enclosed by these porticoes, which were in themselves architectural creations of rare marbles, 
the floors often being inlaid with jasper and porphyry. The surrounding hills and the valleys 
between, once the dumping-place of the city's refuse, were converted into magnificent gardens, 
forming stretches of verdure in length sometimes exceeding two miles in a single composition. 

To-day, after centuries of destruction and decay, Rome is taking on new life. Her popula- 
tion is fast increasing; since 1870 scores of millions of dollars have been spent on works of public 
utility and general improvement; great thoroughfares have been created, the monuments of the 
past have been opened to the light and air, the pestilential conditions that during the centuries of 
her decadence hung over the city like a pall have been removed by wise sanitation; the great 
estates of noble families have been given over to the public; and again the compelling power of 
Rome is being felt tliroughout the civilized world. 

During the slow centuries which followed upon the destruction and decay of ancient civili- 
zation, no great works of civic utility or adornment were undertaken, and the old were no longer 
maintained. As the consciousness of national life again began to assert itself in Europe, and the 
unifying forces of Christianity and Roman law began to bind humanity together, the cities of 
Italy, of Germany, of France, and of England grew strong and rich by industry and traffic; 
and throughout western Europe the sense of permanence and power found expression in the 
rearing and beautification of cities. Everywhere the same spirit actuated the people, although in 
each land the mode of expression took on characteristic form; and since the vital principle was 
religion, the cathedral became the embodiment of the highest expression in civic art. 

No city in the world, says Charles Eliot Norton, appeals more strongly to the poetic imagina- 
tion than Venice. Rising in the dawn of modern Europe, she linked the tradition of the old 
civilization to the fresh conditions of the new. The destiny that ruled her beginnings seemed, 
as she grew, to have had no clement of chance, but to have been determined by foresight and wise 
counsel. Her statesmen were the ablest, her merchants the most adventurous and most success- 
ful, her seamen the boldest, her craftsmen the most skillful, of their time. The affection in which 
she was held by her people had the depth and intensity of a passion.' As it was with Venice, so 

' Church Building in the Middle Ages. 



14 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 




in a scarcely less degree it fared with Florence and Siena, and other independent cities of Italy, 
which vied with one another not only in power, but much more in beauty and in the love 

borne them by their citizens. And to-day 
their charm makes them the resort of 
people of taste and refinement, long after 
their power has waned and only their beauty 
remains. 

City planning, in the sense of regarding 
the city as an organic whole and of develop- 
ing its various units with reference to their re- 
lations one to another, had its origin in Paris 
during the Bourbon period. Among great 
cities, Paris has reached the highest stage of 
development; and the method of this attain- 
ment affords lessons for all other cities. 
Paris owes its origin and its growth to the 
convenience of its location in view of in- 
creasing commercial conditions. Its begin- 
nings go back to the century before the 
Christian era, when it was but a straggling 
village called Lutetia, occupying one of the 
islands in the Seine. On the vast level plain 
adjoining the town, houses could be erected 
indefinitely, while the numerous watercourses 
extending into the surrounding regions gave 
easy access to the trader. Fertile lands 
furnished an abundance of provisions; and 
brick-clay, hme, and sand, with timber 
from the neighboring forests, provided mate- 
rials for building. The surroundings of 
Paris, so rich in all the requisites for the 
creation of a great city, are similar to those 
of London and Berlin and Chicago; and in 
each instance there is the same breadth in 
the landscape. 

The architects to whom Louis XIV. 
entrusted his planning went far beyond the 
compact walled city of their day. In the open 
fields which the growth of Paris must sooner 
or later transform into streets and avenues 
they drew the central axis of the city. 

XV. TRANSFORMATION O^THE BANKS OF THE SEINE Straight, VaSt iu width, and withoUt limit of 

IN PARIS. length, this avenue passed entirely tlirough 

Chronological views of the Petit Pont and Petit Chatelet, ^ -^i i j u mj- 

showing the evolution of the boulevards. Open couutry. With Scarcely a dozen buildings 





CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 15 



throughout its great extent. To the 
teenth centuries. — Louis XIV., Colbert, 
tects, — Paris owes those vast reaches of 
avenue and boulevard which to-day are the 
crowning features of the most beautiful of 
cities. The Paris of their day was indeed a 
crowded, congested city; but the Paris which 
they conceived and laid out in the deserts 
and waste places was the widespreading, 
well-adorned, and convenient city in which 
to-day all the world takes delight. The 
Madeleine, the Place de la Concorde, the 
Invalides, and the great axial avenue from 
the garden of the Tuileries to the Place 
de I'Etoile, — all existed on paper decades 
before they were finally realized in the prog- 
ress of city building. The point of interest 
to us is, that as Paris increased in population, 
the city grew according to a well-devised, 
symmetrical, highly developed plan; and 
that the greater portion of the beauty and 
convenience recognized to-day was attained at 
no money cost whatever. Artistic sense and 
foresight were the only price paid. It is un- 
necessary to do more than point out the fact 
that a similar opportunity is open to Chicago. 
Old Paris remained, with its dirty, 
crowded, ill-smelling, narrow, winding streets, 
the hotbeds of vice and crime. Napoleon 
Bonaparte was quick to see that while the 
Paris of the future might indeed grow in at- 
tractiveness and convenience, the Paris of the 
present demanded his attention. Napoleon 
was disturbed over the condition of his cap- 
ital. He realized that the city, then num- 
bering some seven hundred thousand people, 
was destined to become the home of two, 
three, or even four millions ; and he proposed 
to give it a splendor never before realized by 
any city in the world. He began to open the 
Rue de Rivoli, north of the Tuileries gar- 
dens; he created the Rue Napoleon (now the 
Rue de la Paix) in the axis of the Place 
Vendome; from the mediaeval bridges he 



noted city-builders of the seventeenth and eigh- 
Le Notre, Blondel, and the Academy of Archi- 








|.^ 








1880. 
XVI. CHRONOLOGICAL VIEWS OF THE PLACE DE LA 

BASTILLE, PARIS. 

The evolution of the castle and moat to its present form of 

plaza and boulevard is shown 



The dates under the views on page 14 should read 
1780, 1830, 1880. 

The dates under the views on page 15 should read 
1740, 1841, 1878. 



CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 17 

swept the superstructures, adding three superb new crossings of the Seine; he built the first 
sidewalks in Paris, and lighted the streets at night; and he transformed the banks of the river 
by the construction of three thousand meters of new quays. He also gave to Paris her great 
conamemorative monuments, the Arc de Triomphe de I'Etoile, which was finished by Louis 




XVIII. PARIS. PLAN PROPOSED BY M. EUGENE HENARD FOR ADDITIONAL RADIAL ARTERIES AND AN INNER 
CIRCUIT BOULEVARD ON VVTilCH WOULD FRONT THE PRINCIPAL EXISTING ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDINGS AND MANY 

PUBLIC MONUMENTS. 
The system, involving radical cuts through the blocks and widening of existing arteries, is shown by hatched lines. 

Philippe, the Arc du Carrousel, and the Column Vendome, all of which were foreshadowed in 
the designs of Louis XIV. 

It remained for the third Napoleon, however, to accomplish the great work of breaking 
through the old city, of opening it to light and air, and of making it fit to sustain the army 
of merchants and manufacturers which makes Paris to-day the center of a commerce as wide 
as civilization itself. In 1853, Georges Eugene Haussmann became prefect of the Seine, the 
appointment being in the nature of a promotion due to the successful administration of the office 
of prefect in other French cities. Immediately Haussmann began a career which has established 



i8 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

for all time his place among the city-builders of the world. As if by intuition he grasped the 
entire problem. Taking counsel neither of expediency nor of compromise, he ever sought the 
true and proper solution. To him Paris appeared as a highly organized unit, and he strove to 
create ideal conditions throughout the entire city. The world gives him credit for the highest 
success. The people of Paris have always supported those who aimed to make their city grand 
and beautiful. Proud, ambitious, endowed with good taste and an artistic sense, the Parisians 
have ever been zealous to make their city the capital not only of the state, but also of 
civilization. 

Haussmann never overlooked the great and broad lines laid down by his predecessors; so 
that to a considerable extent his work was but the continuation of the plans prepared by Louis 
XIV. in the later years of the seventeenth century. His peculiar task, however, was to provide 
adequate means of circulation within the old city, by cutting new streets and widening old ones, 
by sweeping away unwholesome rookeries, and by opening up great spaces in order to disengage 
monuments of beauty and historic interest. He placed the great railway stations of Paris in a 
circle about the old center of the city, and opened up fine avenues of approach to them. At times 
he found it less expensive, and also less disturbing, to build a new street through the blocks, rather 
than to widen old streets; and it was his special care to create diagonal thoroughfares in order 
to shorten distances, and also to give picturesqueness to the street system by the creation of those 
corner lots which the architects of Paris have learned so well how to improve.' 

The task which Haussmann accomplished for Paris corresponds with the work which must be 
done for Chicago, in order to overcome the intolerable conditions which invariably arise from a 
rapid growth of population. At the time he began, the population of Paris was half a 
million less than the population of Chicago to-day. The work was accomplished at a cost of 
$265,000,000. That portion of the improvements relating to the palaces was borne entirely by 
the nation, the remainder being divided between the nation and the city, the former paying 
one-third and the latter two-thirds of the e.xpense. It was Haussmann's *:heory that the money 
thus spent made a better city, and that a better city was a greater producer of wealth. Expe- 
rience has amply justified his contention. The convenience and beauty of Paris bring large 
returns in money as well as in aesthetic satisfaction.^ 

In Europe, during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a widespread impulse towards 
city planning found expression in all the great towns. This movement was made possible by 
the fact that since the termination of the Franco-Prussian war, in 1870, there has been peace 
throughout Europe, and the money which theretofore had been wasted on swords and spears 
now found productive employment in plowshares and pruning-hooks. From out the turmoil 
and strife which marked the first two-thirds of the century, Germany arose united, alert, 
vigorous, ambitious, like a lusty youth, realizing both the opportunities before him and his own 
strength of body, mind, and will to take advantage of every opening. Austria, unwillingly 
freed from the incubus of Italy, found in union with Hungary a strength never before possessed; 
and Vienna and Budapest became centers of intense activity, which developed along lines ot 

' Baron Haussmann and the Topographical Transformation of Paris; by Edward R. Smith, Reference Librarian, Avery 
Architectural Library, Columbia University. The Architectural Record, 1907. 

' A reasonable estimate, for the single year 1907, of the gold imported into France by travelers, to be spent in hotels, trans- 
portation, amusements, and purchases, is $600,000,000, a sum equal to the highest gold reserve of the Bank of France. Americans 
commonly exaggerate both their numbers and their expenditures in France; but one-fifth of this sum ($120,000,000) may safely be 
set down as their share. — French Finance, by Stoddard Dewey, Atlantic Monthly, August, 1908. 



CITY PLANNING IN MODERN AND ANCIENT TIMES 19 




^-€^ 7 




*i^- 



XIX. CITY CENTER, VIENNA, IN 1857, SHOWING 
THE FORTIFICATIONS. 



commercial progress, and also took on forms of 1ii|^ 

convenience and orderliness which have served \ 

as examples the world over. Italy, once again 
shaking off the foreign yoke, became united 
under the rule of her own people. France, put- 
ting aside for the moment ideas of foreign dom- 
ination, set herself to the task of leading all 
nations in the world of art and taste. England, 
drawing her princely revenues from every hemi- 
sphere, watched her commerce develop as her 
industries grew and her wealth increased. 

Moreover, the past thirty-eight years of peace 
throughout Europe coincides with the period 
in which the greatest discoveries in the realm of 
natural forces, as applied to industry, have been 
made and utilized. So that the capital saved 
as the result of peace has yielded returns that 
have been increased in geometrical ratio, until 
we have reached the days not only of unparal- 
leled wealth, but also of unparalleled opportuni- 
ties for increasing wealth. Moreover, peace has 
widened the field of traffic, so that no nation 
now relies merely on its own people for its com- 
merce, but out of every nation come the finest 
fruits of its industry to satisfy the world's demands. 
And inasmuch as there are no bounds to human 
wants and satisfactions, the triumphs and the 
rewards of commerce find no limits. 

All this commercial activity, suddenly devel- 
oped by turning the capital of the world into 
productive channels, found the cities of Europe 
ill adapted to meet the changed conditions. 
The great towns, Paris excepted, were still in 
the swaddling-clothes of the Middle Ages; they 
were walled towns with narrow, tortuous streets, 
picturesque indeed, but absolutely unfitted for 
commerce or manufactures according to the 
modern scale. All the conditions, therefore, made 
imperative the transformation of the old portions 
of cities to meet modern demands for circu- 
lation, and the extension of their borders to provide for the constant increase in popula- 
tion. Everywhere throughout Europe the design of the cosmopolitan city as planned by the 
architects of Louis XIV. became the model; everywhere the work of Haussmann in opening 
congested regions of old cities by means of straight thoroughfares found imitators. Vienna with 



'^.> 


<\., 


- 




J ■■ '~ 


';■/ 









XX. CITY CENTER, VIENNA, AFTER TRANSFORM.V 

TIONS MADE BY ORDER OF FRANCIS JOSEPH 

IN 1857. 

The Ringstrasse and public buildings replace the 

fortifications. 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 




XXI. LONDON. PLAN OF ALD- 
\VyCH AND KINGSWAY CON- 
NECTING HOLBORN AND THE 
STRAND 



its Ringstrasse followed the example of Paris as expressed in the 
boulevards of Colbert; in each case the old fortifications were 
cleared away to make park-like thoroughfares. The heart of old 
London was transformed by cutting new streets; Brussels was 
divided by boulevards. In Italy, Rome, Florence, and Milan, 
each carried out extensive schemes of improvement based on 
French models. 

With the Germans the cutting tlirough of new streets was 
undertaken for the twofold reason of facilitating traffic and of 
admitting light and air into a too congested and unwholesome 
city quarter. In Frankfort-on-the-Main, in Hamburg, in Ber- 
lin, and in Dresden it became necessary to abolish with firm 
hand evil conditions that had become intolerable, no matter at 
what sacrifice of buildings enveloped with historical associations. 
But the Germans have come to modify the French theory of 
the unconditional superiority of the rectilinear avenue; and now 
they seek to maintain the essential character of the city, as in 
the case of Darmstadt, by admitting strong curves, and, wher- 
ever desirable, by narrowing or widening the thoroughfare, 
making compensations by creating open spaces. They have 
found, also, that a too extensive clearing away of the old build- 
ings which cluster about a great minster or cathedral results in an 
enhancement of effectiveness only at a sacrifice of scale and a loss 
of picturcsqueness. As a consequence, the Germans have sought 
a golden mean by creating about a monumental structure free 
room for the 



beholder to see the essential parts of the building 
from a sufficiently remote point of view, while 
leaving undisturbed single structures small in 
scale, in order that the main building may 
appear to have grown out of its surroundings.' 
In general, then, it may be said that while 
the French or classical theory results in monu- 
mental effects for a city and establishes unity, 
the German or individualistic treatment pre- 
serves for an old city a homelike feeling and 
a pleasing variety. It is worthy of note, 
however, that where city planning has been 
undertaken by masters, whether in France 
or Germany, the two theories have been 
used as circumstances warranted. It is only 
where designers are not able to handle their 

' German City Planning ; by Cornelius Gurlitt. Translated 
for the Metropolitan Improvements Commission of Boston, by 
Sylvester Baxter. 







^■. 



'■0^' 



t 







XXII. LONDON TRAFFIC COMMISSION'S PLAN FOR 
NEW THOROUGHFARES TO OVERCOME CONGES- 
TION, 1907. 
Revised by Paul Waterhouse, F. R. i. B. A. 



CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 21 

subject in its entirety, but have become slaves to a system, that results have been attained at 
great money cost and with a loss of charm and picturesqueness that by intelligent study might 
have beeen saved.' 

Napoleon Bonaparte, in exile on St. Helena, one day amused himself by planning improve- 
ments for London. He would make, he said, a grand thoroughfare from St. Paul's to the Thames; 
and two wide streets along the Thames, one on either side of the river. He would build more 
bridges, and would remove from the vicinity of public buildings the mean old structures which 
disfigure the fine monuments. It would be easy to do this, he thought, in a city so rich as 
London.^ Albert Shaw, in his work on Municipal Government in Great Britain, says: "If 
London within the lifetime of men still in their prime had taken due precautions, what errors 
might have been avoided! London is now creating a park system, and acquiring land that has 
quadrupled in value within thirty years. London is widening and straightening streets, and in- 
creasing thereby the expense of appropriating frontage that costs twice as much now as it would 
have cost a few years ago. The people of London suffer an inestimable loss in convenience and 
actual money through the haphazard nature of passenger transportation facilities." 

After the great fire of September, 1666, London had the opportunity, so frequently offered 
in America, of rectifying those unfortunate results which occur in all cities that have grown up; 
and the sin of omission in the case of the British metropolis was the more unpardonable, inas- 
much as plans for improvement were prepared by one of the great architects of the world. Sir 
Christopher Wren, only to be set aside by the perverse self-interest of the then citizens of London. 
Wren's plans contemplated a city with streets radiating from central points, and the locations for 
public buildings were arranged so as to give pleasing objects of sight at the end of long vistas, — 
principles of civic arrangement which the English architect fixed on paper years before the French 
city-builders adopted the same principles for the development of Paris.' The failure of Wren's 
scheme of 1666 has cost London millions upon millions of money to repair in part the errors which 
might have been avoided so easily, besides years of inconvenience and loss due to congestion of 
traflfic. From 1855 to 1900 one project after another for bettering the conditions in London has 
been carried out, at a cost equal to nearly one hundred million dollars; and now the new Traffic 
Commission has reported a tentative plan for diminishing the congestion in street traflfic by cut- 
ting two great thoroughfares: one traversing the town from north to south, the other linking 
Bayswater with Wliitechapcl, the estimated cost of the combined work being in the neighborhood 
of $125,000,000 for land damages alone. ^ 

Recently England has taken up in comprehensive manner the whole subject of housing the 
working classes and of town planning. In 1890 a limited act was passed for the housing of the 
working classes; and in 1907 this act was supplemented by "the small holdings and allottments 
act." It is now proposed to extend the provisions of these acts to every urban and rural district. 
The powers conferred center in the Local Government Board, to which local authorities apply 

' The magnitude of the movement for city planning in Germany is so great that literally hundreds of cities a'e now prosecuting 
schemes of systematic extension and development; and a school of city planners has grown up within the past twenty-five years, with 
such men as Gurlitt, Stubben, Theodor Fischer, and Baumeister among its masters. A well-edited magazine, "Der Stadtebau" (City 
Planning) is published; and in 1903 the first German Municipal Exposition was held in Dresden. 

' Talks with Napoleon; by Dr. Barry E. O'Meara. The Century Magazine, February, iSgo. 

' History of London Street Improvements, 1855-1897; by Percy J. Edwards. The Making of a Plan for Washington; by 
Glenn Brown; Park Improvement Papers; Washington, 1903. It is interesting to note, however, that the Thames Embankment 
improvement was a portion of Wren's scheme. 

* Some observations on the report of the Royal Commission on London Traffic; by Paul Waterhouse. Read before the 
Royal Institute of British Architects. Journal of the R. I. A., May 26 and June 16, 1906. 



22 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

for approval of the plans proposed ; and in case these local authorities fail to make application, 
the Board may order schemes to be prepared and carried out. There is also a Public Works 
Loan Commission which authorizes loans for the purpose of carrying out the approved plans.' 
We have found that those cities which retain their domination over the imaginations of man- 
kind achieve that result through the harmony and beauty of their civic works; that these artistic 
creations were made possible largely by the gains of commerce promoted by years of peace; and 







XXIII. ORIGINAL PLAN OF WASHINGTON DESIGNED BY PETER CHARLES L'ENFANT, 1791. 

that intense loyalty on the part of the great body of the citizens was the chief impulse which led 
them to strive to enhance the prestige and dignity of their city. We have found, also, that in 
modern times the cities of Europe are everywhere making those changes which a rapid increase 
in trade and population requires, and which the awakened artistic sense of the people demands. 
We turn now to our own country, to note the conditions which have controlled the development 
of the American city, and to recount briefly some of the more noteworthy attempts that are being 
made in the United States to give form and comeliness to our great towns. 

Washington was planned and founded as the capital of a nation. The architects of Louis 

' Mr. John Burns now advocates the proposition that town planning schemes may be made as respects any land which appears 
likely to be used for building purposes; the general object being to secure proper sanitary conditions, amenity, and convenience, in con- 
nection with the laying out and use of land. To this end the Local Government Board may authorize a local authority to prepare 
such a town planning scheme, with reference to any land within or in the neighborhood of their area, which scheme, when approved 
by the Board, shall immediately take effect. The use of land for building purposes shall include provision for open spaces, parks, 
pleasure, or recreation grounds; and where in any town planning scheme the area extends beyond a single local authority, a joint 
body is provided for. Also the Board may take the initiative in preparing a plan, in case the local authorities fail or neglect to act. 
See Housing, Town Planning, etc., Bill, 8 Edw., 7. 



CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 



23 




XIV. drew the lines of the new Paris 
beyond the walls of the existing 
town, and mapped avenues converg- 
ing at central points where only gar- 
dens and farms then existed; and 
their plans were a wise provision for 
a not distant future. Under the 
direction of President Washington, 
and with the aid and encouragement 
of Secretary Jefferson, Peter Charles 
L'Enfant, a young French engineer, 
deliberately drew the map of an 
entirely new capital city designed to 
accommodate a population one-third 
greater than was comprised in Paris 
at that date. In that plan no ele- 
ment of civic convenience, beauty, or 
adornment was lacking. The entire 
city was regarded as a unit, and that 
unit was to be developed in a form 
not surpassed by any existing city. 
Upon a rectilinear system of streets 
L'Enfant imposed diagonal avenues 
of stately width, converging upon 
focal points designed to be the loca- 
tion of important public buildings, 
statues, or monuments commemorat- 
ing historic events. The Capitol 
and the President's House were con- 
nected by a spacious park, and axial 
relations between the two structures 
were developed; every other build- 
ing necessary for national uses was 
provided for; and canals, cascades, 
and fountains were located with ref- 
erence to existing springs and water- 
courses. This comprehensive and 
magnificent plan, designed for an 
area which then consisted of wide 
swamps and wooded hills, became 
the laughing-stock alike of foreign 
traveler and American citizen. But 
fortunately the foundations were laid 
broad and deep by means of the 



XXIV. THE L'ENFANT PLAN OF WASHINGTON AS DEVELOPED BY 
THE SENATE PARK COMMISSION OF 1901. 



24 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



donation of the lands necessary for streets, avenues, and parks. Fortunately the plan was 
adopted and the streets, avenues, public squares, and circles were fixed; and although the 
development of the city during three-quarters of a century was slow, yet the rapid increase in 




XXV. THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT, GARDEN AND HALL, LOOKING TOWARDS THE CAPITOL; SENATE PARK 

COMMISSION PLAN 
















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^ 


^5?^W':^^^lte, 






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'.#**« 


ilpp^:-^^'' ' 


*^Bi 


r ,. j^^Sff^ 


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'-mmti 



XXVI. THE PLAZA AND UNION STATION, WASHINGTON, BEGUN IN 1902. 



CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 25 




3 == 



^ § 



ij.-,.:i yr;;ii? ff| fa 
**' CiiBJ W^ «s*«5P 

'9 




-H « 



P^ ^WH 



XXVII. CLEVELAND GROUP PLAN. 

Proposed civic center, railway station and gardens, now 

being executed. 

thought for future advancement, the new 
plans have been carried to such a point 
that their general lines are well established, 
and already works to cost nearly $50,- 
000,000 are in progress, each one of which 
strengthens the hold of the general scheme.' 
The plans for the improvement of 
Washington were prepared by the same 
hands that guided the artistic development 
of the World's Columbian Exposition in 
Chicago. The dream city on Lake Mich- 
igan, people said, should take on enduring 
form in the capital of the nation. Then as 
the Washington plans fired the imagination 

' The Improvement of the Park System of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia; LVII. Congress, First Session; Senate 
Report No. i66. 



wealth and power that followed the ending of 
the Civil War found Washington ready and 
waiting for the improvements which have lifted 
it from a straggling, ill-kept town, into one 
of the beautiful and stately capitals of the 
world. 

Before the opening of the twentieth cen- 
tury, Washington had begun to expand over 
the surrounding country; and there unfortu- 
nately the L'Enfant plan stopped short. More- 
over, within the city there had been perversions 
of the plan; and there had also been additions 
to the park area awaiting development. Con- 
gress dealt in part with the difficulties by 
extending the L'Enfant plan of streets and 
avenues over the entire District of Columbia; 
and in igoi the task of preparing a report on 
the development of the park system of the 
Federal territory and the placing of public 
buildings was committed to an expert com- 
mission. As Haussmann aimed in large part to 
carry out the work that had been planned by 
the architects of Louis XIV., so the Senate 
Park Commission sought to re-establish and 
reanimate the plans of L'Enfant, which had 
the sanction of Washington and Jefferson. In 
spite of much opposition on the part of those 
who regard only the present, and take no 




XXVIII. CLEVELAND GROUP PLAN. 
View looking towards the Lake from the proposed civic center. 




'.'-:/V 



} 'j;^^'E;r-;'f.y,'^iBS , * 







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V-;- :-. ■^,. 



^.T^ki^ 



■ '-— -■-VA'r'TjgfV - 



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15- ur- ,,-5=r 



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J,. ^VjxV,-^ 



XXIX. PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENTIRE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO. 
Report of D. H. Burnham to the Association of Improvement and Adornment of San Francisco, 1904-1906. 




M 



XXX. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE PL.\.N OF DEVELOPMENT FOR SAN FRANCISCO. 
This view shows municipal center, boulevard system, and treatment of surrounding hills as parks. 



CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 27 

of the American people, the cities throughout the country began to ask why they too should 
not achieve whatever of beauty and convenience their situation and their civic pride would 
allow. Among the first to feel the new impulse was Cleveland, a commercial city where at 
the time the forces of democracy were having fullest play. Taking advantage of the fact that 
a Federal building, a" city hall, and a public library must be constructed in the near future. 










T 




N^-^ 






XXXI. PLANS FOR THE DEV^ELOPMENT OF MANILA, SUBMITTED TO THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION BY D. H. 

BL'RNHAM, 1905. 
The essential elements of this plan are the government center and system of proposed arteries radiating from it, the rail- 
way station, and the shore road. 



and that a railway station on the Lake front could not long be delayed, a commission of experts 
was appointed to prepare a group-plan for the location of those structures, with appropriate land- 
scape settings; and high-minded, public-spirited citizens who were behind the movement labored 
until they brought harmony of action among the political agencies, and so placed the plans 
beyond the risk of failure. The expense involved approximates $14,000,000 for public purposes, 
and from three to five millions additional for railway terminals, museums, and the like. 

Boston has developed the most extensive park system in America, at a cost of $33,000,000, 
and is creating on the Charles River a tidal basin which bids fair to rival any similar work in Europe. 
A state commission is now studying means to relieve congestion in the city, and to extend its com- 
mercial facilities. New York is struggling with many isolated works of improvement spread over 



28 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

the broad domain of that city's activities; Baltimore is seeking to use the opportunity presented 
by a great fire to introduce order and symmetry in her street system, and also to create a connected 
park system; and the citizens of St. Louis have prepared and presented a city plan for 
the grouping of municipal buildings, for an inner and an outer park system, for civic centers 
comprising small parks and playgrounds, museums, branch libraries, and like public buildings.' 
San Francisco, even before the great earthquake and fire of April, 1906, was already working on 



I 










^ % 



' \ ■ t ■ » > 

1 > /. ' . A. A 



\ - 



XXXn. PLAN FOR A SUMMER CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, AT BAGUIO. 
Submitted to the Philippine Commission by D. H. Burnham, 1905. 

a comprehensive plan to promote, in every practical way, the beautifying of the streets, parks, 
squares, and public places of the city; to bring to the attention of public officials and the citizens 
the best methods of instituting artistic municipal betterments; to stimulate the sentiment of civic 
pride in the improvement and care of private property; and, in short, to make San Francisco a 
more agreeable city in which to live. This latter movement resulted in a comprehensive city plan 
which has been adopted by the general committee of citizens and by the Board of Supervisors.^ 
Philadelphia is cutting a great parkway from Logan Square to Fairmount Park, with the 
expectation of extending the thoroughfare to the City Hall; is acquiring extensive additions to 
its large parks; and is planning for the grouping of its present buildings. Minneapolis and St. 
Paul have made common cause in the creation of parkways, and the last-named city is bent on 
securing adequate approaches for the newly completed state capitol.^ From Providence and 

' A City Plan for St. Louis; reports of the several committees appointed by the Executive Board of the Civic League to 
draft a City Plan, 1907. 

^ Report on a Plan for San Francisco; by D. H. Burnham, assisted by Edward H. Bennett; presented to the Mayor and Board 
of Supervisors by the Association for the Improvement and Adornment of San Francisco; edited by Edward F. O'Day, 1905. 

' A comprehensive summary of the progress of municipal improvement in the United States is to be found in Charities and 
The Commons for February, 1908. 



CITY PLANNING IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES 29 

Hartford in the East, to Kansas City and on to Seattle in the West, the city planning is in full 
progress. The South also has felt the new impulse. Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, was 
laid out on lines strikingly similar to those embodied in Sir Christopher Wren's scheme for Lon- 
don; and the plan of Williamsburg, the colonial capital of Virginia, suggests the locations 
adopted for the Capitol and White House at Washington; so that the new plans for Roanoke, 
Virginia, seem like the discovery of a lost art. 

No sooner had the United States come into the possession of the Philippine Islands than 
the War Department set about adapting the capital city of Manila to the changed conditions 
brought about by the influx of Americans, who are used to better conditions of living than had 
prevailed in those islands. While fully recognizing the value of the historic public buildings, the 
Department undertook to have prepared a plan for connecting thoroughfares, open spaces, drive- 
ways and promenades which should provide adequate facilities for transportation, improved 
sanitation, and opportunities for those particular kinds of recreation which the climate invites. 
As a result the expansion which is coming as the result of American occupation, will proceed on 
comprehensive lines. Moreover, the necessity of providing a summer capital for the rulers of our 
new possessions has led to the creation on the hills of Bagnio of a city laid out on a plan similar 
to the plan made by L'Enfant for the city of Washington, in that it provides for such public build- 
ings as may be needed for government offices, for the service of the city itself, and for the health- 
fulness, convenience, and recreation of the people; and all these functions are so arranged as to 
make a unified and orderly city. Thus without additional expense, but merely by taking thought 
for the future, the two capitals of the Philippines, even in their physical characteristics, will 
represent the power and dignity of this nation. 

It has been seen that as peace permits the expansion of cities regardless of means of defense 
against outside foes, and as commerce enriches the people, population increases with such rapidity 
as to create demands for enlarged facilities for circulation throughout the city; and that these 
demands are so insistent that they must be met, no matter at what cost. Also, that those cities 
which have made ample provision for future grovrth have saved largely in money while at the 
same time they have accomplished much in the way of convenience and orderliness. Thus it 
has been well said that Paris is a unified city; whereas London is a collection of towns. More- 
over, it is to be noted that throughout the civilized world there is a great forward movement in 
the direction of transforming cities to adapt them to the improved conditions of living which the 
people everywhere are demanding, and which, moreover, they feel that they have the power to 
enforce. As a part of this movement arises the impulse to express in concrete form the feeling 
of loyalty to and pride in the city; and this feeling finds expression in parks and pleasure grounds, 
in monuments and fine public buildings, in institutions of art and learning, and in hospitals and 
other means of alleviating the ills of mankind. Furthermore, there has arisen the conception 
of the city as an organic whole, each part having well-defined relations with every other part; 
and the expression of this idea is now seen to be the highest aim of the city-builder. 

Each city differs from every other city in its physical characteristics and in the nature of 
its opportunities, so that the development of every city must be along individual lines. This 
very fact allows full scope for the development of that peculiar charm which, wherever discovered 
and developed irresistibly draws to that city people of discrimination and taste, and at the same 
time begets a spirit of loyalty and satisfaction on the part of the citizens. 

It is not to be expected that the people of Chicago will stand still while the movement for 



3° 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



better civic conditions is sweeping over the whole civilized world ; or that the stirrings of the new 
impulse that have begun among this people will be suffered to die out, without accomplishing the 
possibilities so abundantly offered to make this city pre-eminent among commercial cities. 

The experience of other cities both ancient and modern, both abroad and at home, teaches 
Chicago that the way to true greatness and continued prosperity lies in making the city con- 
venient and healthful for the ever-increasing numbers of its citizens; that civic beauty satisfies a 
craving of human nature so deep and so compelling that people will travel far to find and enjoy 
it; that the orderly arrangement of fine buildings and monuments brings fame and wealth to 
the city; and that the cities which truly exercise dominion rule by reason of their appeal to the 
higher emotions of the human mind. The problem for Chicago, therefore, resolves itself into 
making the best use of a situation, the central location and resources of which have already 
drawn together millions of people, and are clearly destined to assemble many times that number; 
and planning for that civic development which promotes present content and insures permanence. 




* • li-'^fc- 



XXXIII. FLORENCE, ITALY. 

This silhouette of towers is characteristic of Italian towns in the 

Middle Ages. From La Toscane. 




XXXIV. CHICAGO. DIAGR.'VM OF LOC.\TION WITH REGARD TO THE SEVEN CENTRAL STATES. 

CHAPTER III 

CHICAGO THE METROPOLIS OF THE MIDDLE WEST: RE.ASONS FOR EXPECTING CONTINUOUS 
GROWTH: THE SUBURBS: A LAKESIDE DRIVEWAY ALONG LAKE MICHIGAN: CONNECTIONS 
BETWEEN OUTLYING CITIES: THE BUILDING OF GOOD ROADS 



HICAGO is the metropolis of the Middle West, a term popu- 
larly applied to the area knovm a century ago as the Territory 
Northwest of the Ohio River. No section of the country, except 
New England, has so distinct a history. Conquered by Virginia 
troops at the very time when the Colonies were wresting their 
independence from Great Britain, and held for the United States 
by the sagacity of Franklin and the pertinacity of John Jay when 
the treaty of 1783 was negotiated, the Old Northwest was the first 
territorial acquisition of the new republic. Then, while the 
British still held the posts and only Indians and fur-traders roamed 
its forests, the Congress of the Confederation gave to the North- 
west Territory in the Ordinanace of 1787 a charter which con- 
tained two provisions that during the years of development exercised a unifying force comparable 
only to that brought about by the extension of Christianity and the civil law during the Middle 

31 




COTTONWOOD, 
Height, 127 ft. 



NEAR CHICAGO, 
diameter, lo ft. 



32 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

Aaes, — the prohibition of slavery, and the encouragement of free popular education. The con- 
tinuous struggle to preserve human freedom against all the forces determined to extend slavery 
to the fertile fields of the new West, and the establishment of schools and colleges supported 
from a public treasury, brought about common aims and aspirations. When the nation 
engaged in the struggle for its very life, this region furnished the battle-ground for the states- 
men; and when war came, both the leader of the people and the commander in the field were the 
embodiment of the spirit of the Middle West. 

The domain over which Chicago holds primacy is larger than Austria-Hungary, or Ger- 
many, or France; three thousand miles of navigable waters form a portion of its boundaries; 
the rivers flowing into the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, and the Ohio, give access to every part 
of the interior; the level prairies invite the railroad and the canal builder; the large proportion 
of arable land makes possible the support of an enormous population; and the abundance and 
range of the products of earth and forest furnish the materials for traffic. It is no wonder, there- 
fore, that the growth of the Middle West in population and in wealth has been phenomenal; 
and that at the point of convenience a city of the first order has sprung up. 

During the second half of the nineteenth century the population of Chicaco increased from 
thirty thousand to two millions of people. To-day all conditions point to continued gains. The 
days of chance and uncertainty are past. The days of doubtful ventures are gone, and the haz- 
ards of new fortunes. The elements which make for the greatness of the city are known to be 
permanent; and men realize that the time has now come to build confidently on foundations 
already laid. 

The growth of the city has been so rapid that it has been impossible to plan for the economi- 
cal disposition of the great influx of people, surging like a human tide to spread itself wherever 
opportunity for profitable labor offered place. Thoughtful people are appalled at the results 
of progress; at the waste in time, strength, and money which congestion in city streets begets; 
at the toll of lives taken by disease when sanitary precautions are neglected; and at the frequent 
outbreaks against law and order which result from narrow and pleasureless lives. So that while 
the keynote of the nineteenth century was expansion, we of the twentieth century find that our 
dominant idea is conservation. The people of Chicago have ceased to be impressed by rapid 
growth or the great size of the city. What they insist asking now is, How are we living? Are 
we in reality prosperous ? Is the city a convenient place for business ? It is a good labor market 
in the sense that labor is sufficiently comfortable to be efficient and content? Will the coming 
generation be able to stand the nervous strain of city life ? When a competence has been accumu- 
lated, must we go elsewhere to enjoy the fruits of independence? If the city does not become 
better as it become bigger, shall not the defect be remedied ? These are questions that will not be 
brushed aside. They are the most pressing questions of our day, and everywhere men are 
anxiously seeking the answers. 

The remark is often heard, that if, after the great fire of 1871, the people had realized what 
the future growth of the city would be, they would have saved a vast amount of money by plan- 
ning for a convenient city. The undaunted courage with which a debt-burdened community 
of three hundred and fifty thousand people then set about rebuilding their city must absolve them 
from the charge of lack of foresight. To-day there is no excuse for the second city in the United 
States with its destiny made manifest and its wealth secure, if it shall now fail to keep pace with 
the march of progress that is gathering into its ranks the progressive cities of the world. 



THE METROPOLIS OF THE MIDDLE WEST 



33 



Chicago is now facing the momentous fact that fifty years hence, when the children of to-day 
are at the height of their power and influence, this city will be larger than London: that is, larger 
than any existing city. Not even an approximate estimate can be ventured as to just how many 
millions the city will then contain. Mr. Bion J. Arnold, after a careful discussion of the problem 
of the increase that may be expected, 
reaches the conclusion that if the na- 
tional and local conditions governing 
the population of Chicago shall average 
in the future exactly as in the past the 
population in 1952 will be 13,250,000. 
Mr. Arnold hesitates to predict such 
an increase in population, just as the 
most optimistic rebuildcr in 1871 would 
have hesitated to predict two millions 
in thirty years. Yet it is apparent that 
the tendency is towards city life. "When 
the Pacific Coast shall have a popula- 
tion of twenty millions," prophesies 
James J. Hill, "Chicago will be the 
largest city in the world." The com- 
pletion of the Panama Canal, bringing 
about a more rapid development of the 
Mississippi Valley; the opening of China 
and Japan and the Far East to American 
trade and manufactures; the expansion 
of the wheat-producing area in the 
North; and the conversion of the desert 
lands of the West into arable acres by 
means of irrigation — all are factors in 
the growth of Chicago. 

Moreover, city life has attractions 
that make a strong appeal to human 
nature. Opportunities for large success, 
for wealth and power and social consid- 
eration, for amusement and instruction, 
for the increase of knowledge and the 
cultivation of taste, are greater for the 
average person in the city than in the 
country. The city, therefore, is con- 
stantly drawing from the country the 

young men and women of ambition and self-reliance, who are lured thither by the great prizes 
which in a democracy are open to the competition of all. 

When Chicago is adverted to as the metropolis of the Middle West, the meaning is that 
throughout this area Chicago newspapers circulate, and Chicago banks hold the banking reserves; 




XXXV. CHICAGO, AND DIAGRAM OF LAKE MICHIGAN. 

Proposed roadway to connect all the towns along the shores of 

the Lake. 



34 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



that in Chicago are the chief offices of the large industrial enterprises, and the market for their 
products. New ideas in government, in civic improvement, in the creation and maintenance of 
parks, and pleasure grounds are apt to appear first in the metropolis, spreading thence to the 
surrounding country. On high-days and holidays the great city allures the people from the 
neighboring parts, and sends its own people on the water or into the country for rest and refresh- 
ment, so that there is a constant interchange of comers and goers. In the art schools of Chicago 
more than four thousand students are gathered ; the theaters draw audiences from long distances, 
and in music Chicago is attaining a worthy position. In Chicago great political conventions 
are held, party policies are determined, and from the party headquarters here national campaigns 
are conducted. 

It is not in the spirit of boasting that these facts are stated, but rather to show the responsi- 
bility which the very pre-eminence of the city imposes, and the necessity for estabhshing and 
maintaining those standards of commercial integrity, of taste, and of knowledge which are the 
prerequisites of lasting success, and the only real satisfaction of the human mind. The constant 
struggle of civilization is to know and to attain the highest good; and the city which brings about 
the best conditions of life becomes the most prosperous. 

While the influence of Chicago extends throughout a domain larger than any European 
country except Russia, there exist between this city and outlying towns within a certain radius 
vital and almost organic relations. The steam and the trolley railways and the automobile have 
opened to the city workers all varieties of life, and have made possible to a large proportion of the 
people a habitation amid what might be healthful and attractive surroundings. Unfortunately, 
however, conditions near any rapidly growing city are apt to be both squalid and ugly. 

Occasionally a suburb grows up at some sightly point on the Lake shore, or gathers about 
some educational institution; or a group of people engaged in a common enterprise select a pic- 
turesque spot on river banks and there build homes which, by their very relations one to another, 
indicate neighborliness. In each of these instances a community of feeling pervades the place 
and finds expression in well-shaded streets, broad lawns, and homelike architecture. Too 
often, however, the suburb is laid out by the speculative real estate agent who exerts himself to 
make every dollar invested turn into as many dollars as possible. Human ingenuity contrives 
to crowd the maximum number of building lots into the minimum space; if native trees exist 
on the land they are ruthlessly sacrificed. Then the speculative builder takes matters in hand 
and in a few months the narrow, grassless streets are lined with rows of cheaply constructed dwell- 
ings, and with ugly apartment houses occupying the more desirable sites. In ten years or less the 
dwellings are dropping to pieces; and the apartment houses, having lost their newness, become 
rookeries. 

This manner of things is as true of London or of Rome as of Chicago; it is the rule wher- 
ever population increases rapidly, because human nature is alike the world over. England, how- 
ever, is remedying this evil by means of town-planning laws executed by a central board ; and is 
endeavoring to regulate the width and direction of streets, and to provide for sufficient open spaces 
for the health and convenience of the people. After the English manner, a commission should 
be appointed to lay out all that territory adjacent to the city of Chicago which is likely to become 
incorporated in the city at least during the next decade. The plans should be so drawn that as 
subdivisions are platted the new streets shall bear definite relations to the plan of the city; that 
these streets shall be of suitable width, either for traffic or for residence purposes as the case may 



THE METROPOLIS OF THE MIDDLE WEST 



35 



be; that building restrictions shall be made to prevent depreciation of property by the advent 
of undesirable classes of structures, or the erection of towering apartment houses which keep 
light and air from adjoining property and from the street. 

Moreover, adequate provision should be made for public and semi-public buildings. In 
each town plan spaces should be marked out for public schools, and each school should have 




XXXVI. NANCY, FRANCE. \'IEW OF THE PLACE STANISLAS. 
The principal avenues lead into it; a typical arrangement of public squares in small surrounding towns. 

about it ample playgrounds, so that during all the year the school premises shall be the children's 
center, to which each child will become attached by those ties of remembrance that are restrain- 
ing influences throughout life. Next to the school, the public library should have place; and 
here again the landscape setting should be generous and the situation commanding. The town- 
hall, the engine-house with its lookout tower, the police station with its court of justice, and the 
post-oifice, all naturally form a group of buildings that may be located about a common or public 
square, so as to form the suburban civic center. 



36 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 




There was a time in the older portions of the country when church and churchyard 
occupied the chief place in the town; and to-day enterprising real estate dealers find it to their 
advantage to give to one or more religious denominations building sites. But so numerous are 
the sects into which Christianity has divided itself, and so diverse are the nationalities to be 
provided for, that the suburban church building rarely offers to the eye any relief from the 

monotonous ugliness of the airless street 
which it helps to frame. Also, the old 
churchyards, with their serried ranks of 
slate headstones, their cypresses and 
weeping willows, and their rows of 
tombs, made a direct appeal to the 
deepest feelings of the human heart; 
but the disorder of the modern town 
cemetery would seem to carry the idea 
of turbulence even to the grave itself. 
Perhaps, in the coming times, the spirit 
of unity will draw people together in 
religion as well as in business, and such 
a syndication of religious effort will 
prevail as shall find expression in per- 
manent buildings devoted to the moral 
advancement of all the people. The 
day of the splendid cathedral may never 
dawn for this country, but certainly in 
every community there will be buildings 
for the help of the unfortunate, and the amelioration of those desperate conditions which form 
the reverse side of great prosperity. 

Then, too, there are the various railway stations and the electric lighting and power buildings, 
semi-public structures which should be treated in such manner as to present a smiling face to the 
public. A well-arranged grass plot, a few shrubs, and a little regular attention will give to the 
plainest building a setting that, like a soft answer, will often turn away wrath from a public- 
service corporation. 

The question of creating pleasing conditions in a suburb is not primarily a matter of money, 
but of thoughtful co-operation. Even the real estate agent is beginning to discover that by cutting 
off somewhat from the depth of his lots he can get park space that will make his land more avail- 
able ; and by a combination treatment he can secure for a group of houses an enjoyable area of 
green grass, to take the place of the narrow and ill-kept back yards which are at once unsightly 
and unsanitary. In every town a public-improvement commission should be formed to bring 
about the most orderly conditions within the town itself, and especially to act in co-operation with 
similar bodies in neighboring towns so as to secure harmonious, connected, and continuous 
improvement. 

If we take arbitrarily a radius of sixty miles from the heart of Chicago and count all the ter- 
ritory in the semi-circumference as having definite relations with the city, the distance from center 
to circumference is no greater than the present suburban electric lines extend, or the automobilist 



XXXVII. FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE. 
The Croix de Franchard, an illustration of a country road inter- 



THE METROPOLIS OF THE MIDDLE WEST 



37 



may cover in a drive of two hours. The traffic over the ways leading to and from the city is 
already large and steady; and the near-by towns and villages along these thoroughfares may 
confidently look forward to the day when the tide of Chicago's growth will envelop them, and 
ultimately incorporate them in the city. Hence two considerations become all-important: first, 
the improvement of the thoroughfares, not only those leading to the great city, but also those 
which now form the connections between towns and which ultimately will appear as convenient 
diagonals within the city itself; and secondly, the arrangement of the streets of the town, together 
with provision for space for the public and semi-public buildings, and sufficient park and play- 
ground area, obtained while land is comparatively inexpensive. 

The suburban movement of population will necessarily increase as the ground and buildings 
within the business area of the city become so valuable for commercial purposes as to preclude 
their use for dwellings. In the city of London a thousand policemen are detailed to guard the 
five thousand and more buildings left entirely empty each night. More than one-fifth of all the 
buildings in the "city" are thus left vacant at night and on Sunday. Moreover, London, in 
order to carry out improvements made to prevent congestion, finds it necessary to remove and 
rehouse the working-people who are displaced by tearing down buildings in the over-crowded 
quarters. On the site of the old Millbank prison four thousand persons removed at the time of 
the Holborn to Strand improvement were rehoused in convenient new dwellings built by the 
municipality; and more than fifty thousand people have been displaced and reinstated by reason 
of the various improvements. Thus the city, while drawing from the farms and small towns, 
also sends out swarms to be 
housed under more wholesome 
conditions. 

These suburban resi- 
dents are dependent on the 
city for a livelihood, and 
either directly or indirectly 
pay the taxes that support 
the municipality. They are 
vitally interested in adequate 
and convenient means of 
transportation, in the protec- 
tion of life and property, 
and in well-ordered home sur- 
roundings. Thus it hap- 
pens naturally that as the city 
grows the functions of the 
various governing bodies are 
extended over areas outside 
the city limits. The admin- 
istrative county of London has an area of but ii8 square miles; but the greater London 
over which the metropolitan and city police have jurisdiction comprises 693 square miles, and 
includes a population of two millions outside of the county. The water-board and the sanitary 
authorities also have authority far beyond county limits. 





XXXVIII. CHICAGO. THE SHERIDAN ROAD NORTH OF GLENCOE. 
From the Report of the Special Park Commission. 



38 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

Boston, first among American cities, realized the advantages of co-operation between the 
great city and outlying districts. In 1889 the Massachusetts legislature created a metropolitan 
sewage commission, and later a metropolitan park commission, with jurisdiction over thirty-seven 
distinct municipalities; and to-day it is proposed to extend police jurisdiction and fire protection 
over substantially the same area. The Boston park system, developed through the co-operation 
of these various towns and cities, is famed for its beauty and variety. Beginning with the 
great ocean beach at Revere, where on a summer day one hundred and fifty thousand persons 
enjoy the bathing privileges, broad parkways sweep around the city, enveloping on their way 
great stretches of fen and lofty hills, until again salt water is reached at Nantasket, where another 
bathing beach as large as the first furnishes refreshment and recreation. Again, it is not vnthout 
effect on the people of the outlying towns that Massachusetts Avenue keeps its name as it traverses 
Boston, Cambridge, Arlington, Lexington, and Concord; and that Beacon Street maintains its 
integrity from Boston through Brookline to Newton. Throughout the entire region one and the 
same spirit prevails — a spirit of love for and loyalty to the city set on three hills, which dominates 
the entire region. It would be no more difficult to secure the co-operation of Illinois, Wisconsin, 
and Indiana in planning for the continuous development of the Lake shore than it has been for 
New York and New Jersey to combine for the preservation of the Palisades of the Hudson and the 
development of their park possibilities.' 

A highway should be built from Wilmette along the western shore of Lake Michigan to 
Milwaukee; and even where this road runs through intermediate towns it should be located as 
close as possible to the edge of the water. Such a highway should be kept somewhat back of the 
sand beaches and a little above them, a retaining wall being built to separate the road from the 
beach. The planting should be of trees and evergreens hardy enough to stand the exposure. 
A few miles north of Waukegan is a sand waste on which grows a dwarf juniper, the effect of 
which on the sand banks is that of moss of dark rich color. This could be used effectively 
along the shore. A similar treatment might be adopted for the edge of the water much of the 
way around Lake Michigan. 

It needs no argument to show that direct highways leading from the outlying towns to 
Chicago as the center are a necessity for both; and it is also apparent that suburban towns 
should be connected with one another in the best manner. Isolated communities lack those 
social and commercial advantages which arise from easy communication one with another. 
A diagram has therefore been drawn for the use of the public bodies in their study of the rela- 
tions of a particular town with other towns, and to suggest the locations and routes that may 
be followed. This diagram is not put forward as a complete study of the roads, but as a 
general scheme, the large details of which can be relied on and safely followed. The solid 
black lines are routes already open and in use as public highways; the dotted lines indicate 
proposed connection links not yet in existence. It is believed that the building of these roads 
will not be difficult or unduly expensive for any given township, as very little land will have 
to be acquired. The existing highways will sufl6ce for the present, and the burden of the 
improvement will fall lightly on each township.^ 

' The Palisades Interstate Park Commission was organized in 1900. Mr. J. P. Morgan, the honorary president of the American 
Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, gave $122,500; the state of New Jersey, $55,000; and New York appropriated $410,000. 
With these resources the Palisades Commission has acquired most of the palisades fronting on the Hudson, from Fort Lee, N. J., to 
Piermont, N. Y. 

' The commercial value of good roads was recognized by Massachusetts a quarter of a century ago, and to-day every portion of the 
commonwealth is provided with a network of excellent highways built under the direction of a highway commission at the joint expense 



THE METROPOLIS OF THE MIDDLE WEST 



39 



Pending the creation of a metropolitan commission for the treatment of the entire area, 
the public authorities or the improvement associations of each towm should confer with their 
neighbors and agree on the routes of connecting highways; also upon the width and arrange- 
ment of roadways, sidewalks, planting-spaces and drainage, and the varieties of trees and slirubs 
to be used for shade and ornament. 

In laying out routes, no bad kinks or sharp turns should be tolerated. The English roads, 
though better as to surface-finish and drainage, do not compare with the roads of France as to 
trend and direction; because in England there are so many abrupt and "blind" twistings, which 
are generally avoided in France. Liberality in road building now will be repaid many fold in 
the future. The aim should be to adopt the best routes, the best curves and turns, and the most 
perfect construction known at the present day.^ It is the opinion of all experts on road building 
that taking a period of ten years, a good bed and surface carefully maintained all the time will 
cost less in the aggregate than the very best bed and surface if neglected. We need perfect main- 
tenance, and organization constantly kept sharp and effective, rather than expensive first con- 
struction. Nevertheless, the best original construction will be found economical in the end. 
Automobiles have introduced on the roads a new sort of wear and tear, as their broad pneumatic 
tires, carr}'ing great weights and moving at high speeds, press into the softer spots and suck up 
loose material. The result is pockmarks or rough places, which destroy the best of roads con- 
structed according to the old-methods road building.- 

While good highways are of great value to the terminal cities, they are of even greater value 
to the outlying towns, and of greatest value to the farming communities through which they pass. 
Good roads add an element of better living to an agricultural community; they afford ready 
communication with the city and reduce materially the cost of handling farm products of all 
kinds; and also they promote communication between farms. These state highways should 
invariably include a work-road for heavy loads, and also a pleasure drive. The two should be 
separated by a grassway and there should be grass plots at the sides, and not less than three rows 
of trees should be planted. The country schools should be on these highways. 

At the earliest possible date measures should be taken for beginning what may be termed 
the outer encircling highway. Beginning at Kenosha on the north, this thoroughfare would run 

of state and town; and now the work of tree planting along the roads is in progress. In Los .\ngeles County, California, 83,500,000 
has been raised by a bond issue for laying out and improving highways — so thoroughly do the people appreciate the attractions which 
good roads have for the tourists who, as in Massachusetts, are a source of income to the community. 

In Illinois the State Highway Commission has built two so-called experimental roads in the vicinity of Chicago, one at VVheaton 
and the other at Naperville. On the road at the latter town, the commission has tried both limestone and slag macadam, and also 
gravel treated with tar and with oil. A movement is on foot to connect the Wheaton road with Chicago by a direct highway built 
in a substantial manner. In a letter dated October 20, 1908, Mr. A. N. Johnson, the State Highway Engineer, says: "It is possible 
that some attempt will be made at the coming session of the legislature to secure means to start the construction of highways. Pub- 
lic sentiment in general, however, is somewhat backward, and I imagine will require longer time than is available by the ne.xt legislature 
to get to such a point that any considerable sum of money will be forthcoming, such as will be necessary to take this work up properly." 

' For general information on road building there is no better reference document than the paper read by Mr. John Alvord some years 
ago before the Commercial Club. In general, the conclusion of Mr. .\lvord and of others seems to be that there are manv specifica- 
tions, any of which will produce good surfaces, but that durability and lasting value in any case, must finally depend on maintenance. 
No road yet invented will stand up without constant care and attention being bestowed upon it, care which should begin almost as 
soon as the surface is first finished. 

' No roads constructed with smooth surfaces have stood up under heavy automobile travel, e.xcept those made of asphaltum 
and those made like the Sheridan Road in Buena Park. The last-mentioned road has gone through two seasons of very hard usage, and 
although little repairing has been done, it seems unchanged as to its surface. In one section of England considerable stretches of the 
same sort of construction have been in service for some time, and with the same result as at Buena Park. In France two years ago, 
the main road from Versailles to Chartres was in first-class condition; going over the same road in June, 1907, it was found to be 
almost impassible, the wear upon it having come from automobiles; and yet this highway was constructed with care, on the best old- 
fashioned macadam formula. -Asphaltum roads can be made that will not chip up or pockmark, but the surfacing must be done so 
that it will incorporate wath the mass beneath, and not rolled on as an outer layer. A very moderate speed limit for automobiles will 
keep roads in good repair, for it is the high speed of the machines that is so destructive to roadbeds. 



40 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 





through Pleasant Prairie, Trevor, and Wilmot to McHenry, thus passing through the northern 
lake region. Here are the headwaters of the Fox River, lying in natural scenery of much beauty; 
here too are a large number of lakes and waterways surrounded by hills, the whole forming an 

extensive parklike territory that 
will become an important ad- 
junct of Chicago life when prop- 
erly improved, and when suit- 
able connections are secured. 

Beyond McHenry, this 
outer encircling highway con- 
tinues on through Woodstock, 
Marengo, Genoa, Sycamore, De 
Kalb, Cortland, Sandwich, Mill- 
ington, and Morris; thence it 
runs beside or near the Kanka- 
kee River through Wilmington, 
Kankakee, Momence, Shelby, 
and Maysville, the scenery along 
the route being very interesting, 
and much of it romantically 
beautiful. From Maysville the 
highway bends north through 
Valparaiso to Lake Michigan 
at Michigan City; or by another route from Maysville through La Crosse, Wellsboro, and La 
Porte to Michigan City, the total length from Kenosha around to Michigan City being ap- 
proximately two hundred and fifty miles. It is obvious that such a highway, properly built and 
adorned, would become a strong influence in the development of the social and material pros- 
perity of each of the cities involved, and of all the farming communities along the entire route. 

The encircling highway next inside the outer one above described begins at Waukegan and 
passes through Libertyville to Lake Zurich; thence by two routes, one through Barrington to 
Elgin, the other bending around to skirt the Fox River near Algonquin and Dundee to Elgin, 
and on through St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia to Aurora. From Aurora the highway con- 
tinues to Plainfield, where it crosses the Du Page River, thence through Joliet, and by one route 
through Manhattan, Monee, Eagle Lake, Cedar Lake, Crown Point, and Hobart, to Lake Michi- 
gan; and by another route from Joliet, through Chicago Heights, Griffith, and Tolleston to Gary, 
on the Lake. The highway will be approximately one hundred and forty miles long, and nearly 
the whole of the northern part of it is very picturesque. The next highway proposed goes 
through a fine, rolling country west of the Des Plaines River. Beginning at Winnetka, it 
runs through Des Plaines, Elmhurst, and Hinsdale to Blue Island, whence the route divides into 
two routes, one running through Harvey and Hammond to Gary, and the other running from 
Blue Island to Robey, on the Lake. 

The fourth of the encircling highways begins at Evanston, and passes through Niles or Des 
Plaines, and along the Des Plaines River to Riverside; all this part of the way, being wooded on 
the borders of the water, is very beautiful in its present condition. From Riverside, this high- 



XXXIX. CHICAGO. THE DES PLAINES RIVER; VIEW NEAR MADISON 

STREET BRIDGE. 

From the Report of the Special Park Commission. 




CHICAGO 

geneiwl diagram ol-' exterior 

hic;hwa>s 
enc1iv:ijnc and hadiatinc. from 

THE CITY 

SCALE 1 







K \NK\KFE^ 



XL. CHICAGO. GENERAL DL^GRAM OF EXTERIOR HIGHWAYS ENXIRCLIXG, OR RADIATIXG FROM, THE CITY. 
All the arteries composing the system without the city limits exist, e.xcept where shown in dotted lines. City limits shown in red tint; rivers 

and other waterways in blue. 



THE METROPOLIS OF THE MIDDLE WEST 



41 



way runs through Chicago Ridge to Robey or Blue Island, and from thence to the Lake, over 
routes already mentioned. 

It will be noted that the diagram provides not only for encircling highways, but also for 
roads running directly to the heart of Chicago from every important town or village. And it 
will also be noted that nearly every stretch of roadway shown on the diagram already exists as a 
more or less satisfactory country road, the dotted lines indicating proposed changes or links. 
The system as outlined is complete, and it meets every present demand of road building for such 
extensive environs as those of Chicago. It is confidently believed that in the course of the next 
few years every mile of these highways will be improved in the best manner, and that thus 
Chicago ultimately will come to possess a network of surface thoroughfares equal to the require- 
ments of future generations. 

A satisfactory method of running highways is to parallel the railroads. The work-road 
should be next to the right-of-way; then should come the carriage driveway. Where electric 
railways exist, or are projected on thoroughfares, the most agreeable treatment is found in setting 
apart for the tracks a space which may be grassed over and well shaded. Besides adding to 
the comfort of the passengers, the uninterrupted use of the tracks permits high speed and there- 
by saves time. The improvement of the three roadways as a unit, with the appropriate planting, 
would give a charm to suburban travel where now there is none, while at the same time expenses 
of maintenance would be lessened. As a rule, the creation of highways along railroads involves 
only the bare cost of inexpensive land and the building of the road. The railroads are in them- 
selves great diagonals; and by 
following them the shortest lines 
between important points are 
secured. Then, too, the right- 
of-way traversed by the tracks 
should be improved. The 
drainage should be perfect, so 
that pools of stagnant water 
shall not be an offense to the eye 
and a menace to health. The 
unsightly billboard should be 
replaced by shrubbery or by a 
wall; and the entire space should 
be free from the litter of papers 
or the accumulations of dirt 
and ashes. 

The suburban resident is 
vitally interested in the means 
of communication between his 
home and his place of business. 
If his morning and his evening 
ride are made on the steam railway, he is interested not only in passing through pleasant 
scenes on his way to and from Chicago, but he is concerned also in having the railway station in 
his suburban town conveniently located, constructed simply but artistically, and placed amid 




XLI. CHICAGO 



THE SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN; VIEW AT THE 
NORTH LINE OF COOK COUNTY. 
From the Report of the Special Park Commission. 



42 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



surroundings which in themselves are harmonious and appropriate. A well-kept lawn, with 
shrubbery shutting out the necessarily unpleasant feature of a steam railway station; a sheltered 
platform well lighted at night, and a commodious station, architecturally in good taste — these 
accessories go a long way towards mitigating the nerve strain which every business man feels and 
from which too many suffer. 

The electric railroads, with their frequent cars passing one's very door, have done a vast 
deal to bind the outlying towns firmly to the central city. More than this, they have promoted 
neighborliness among people of adjoining towns, and have broken up the isolation of farm life. 
These roads now strive to obtain private rights-of-way, excepting where for the convenience of 
passengers they pass through city streets; and the same observations as to good order along the 
routes and at the terminals that appertain to steam roads apply equally to trolley lines. 

The rapidly increasing use of the automobile promises to carry on the good work begun by 
the bicycle in the days of its popularity in promoting good roads and reviving the roadside inn 
as a place of rest and refreshment. With the perfection of this machine, and the extension of its 
use, out-of-door life is promoted, and the pleasures of suburban life are brought within the reach 
of multitudes of people who formerly were condemned to pass their entire time in the city. 

While the people generally have yet to be brought to appreciate the value of well-constructed 
highways, the universal experience is that where a stretch of good road has been built the saving 
in time and money is so great and so apparent that the movement gathers force rapidly, and cul- 
minates only when all main lines have been completed. Land adjacent to such roads increases 
in value and finds a readier sale; the farmer is no longer cut off from his market, and often he 
finds it possible to lessen the number of horses he keeps. The actual economies which the good 
road allows far exceed the increase in taxes necessary to meet the bond issue, and life on the farm 
becomes more profitable as well as more agreeable. 




XLn. VIEW OF LAKE ZURICH, ILLINOIS. 




XLIII. CHICAGO. WINTKR MEW ( iF GRANT PARK. A.\D THE PROI'OSED 

HARBOR, LOOKING EAST. 

From the original sketch by E. H. Beonett. 



CHAPTER IV 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM: THE MOVEMENT FOR PARK EXTENSION: PLAYGROUNDS: 
OUTLYING PARK SYSTEMS IN LONDON, PARIS, BERLIN, VIENNA, AND BOSTON: PROPOSED 
TREATMENT OF THE LAKE MICHIGAN SHORE: AN OUTER PARK BELT 

HICAGO, on becoming a city, chose for its motto Urbs in horto 
— a city set in a garden. Such indeed it then was, with the 
opalescent waters of the Lake at its front, and on its three sides 
the boundless prairie carpeted with waving grass bedecked with 
brilliant wild flowers. The quick advance of commerce and 
manufactures, the rapid building of railroads and factories, and 
the hastily constructed homes of operatives crowded out nature's 
parterres of flowers. Still the motto lingered in the minds of 
men, and in 1839 the struggle began to secure for the fast-grow- 
ing population park spaces which should at least recall the 
gardens that of necessity had been sacrificed. 

In the year mentioned, a half-square on Michigan Avenue, where the Public Library now 
stands, comprised the entire park system of the city of Chicago. Three years later Washington 
Square was added; then followed at intervals Jefferson, Union, Ellis, and Vernon parks, each 
representing the public spirit of individuals rather than the foresight of the city. In 1864 the 
Common Council, having been awakened to the necessity of providing recreation places for the 
growing multitudes of citizens, secured a portion of the lands which later came to be named 
Lincoln Park, and the sum of ten thousand dollars was appropriated for park improvement. 

At first no effort was made to provide connections among the various parks; but in 1869 a 
movement was started, by those whom the practical people of that day called dreamers, to realize 

43 




44 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

the then half-forgotten and wholly disregarded motto, by framing the city of Chicago with a 
garden of parks and boulevards, beginning at Lincobi Park on the north and connecting Hum- 
boldt, Garfield, Douglas, Washington, and Jackson parks. The attempt succeeded; the Chi- 
cago park system came to take second place among the park areas of the United States, and was 
the pride and glory of the city. Substantially, park acquisition in Chicago halted there — thirty- 
nine years ago. Second only to Philadelphia in 1880, Chicago has now dropped to the seventh 
place in so far as park area is concerned; and when the relative density of population is taken 
into consideration this city occupies the thirty-second place! At least half the population of 
Chicago to-day live more than one mile from any large park, and in the congested sections of the 
city there are nearly five thousand people to each acre of park space. The average for the entire 
city is 590 persons to each acre of park. For health and good order there should be one acre of 
park area for each hundred people.' 

The seriousness of present conditions being generally realized, a movement to bring about 
radical changes has already taken direction, and is fast gathering the force necessary to accom- 
plish its ends. The state of Illinois has authorized the respective boards of park commissioners 
to connect Grant Park with Lincoln Park on the north and with Jackson Park on the south, and 
has granted the submerged lands along the Lake shore for that purpose, providing, however, that 
in all cases the commissioners must reach an amicable understanding with the riparian owners, 
the right of condemnation being withheld. Moreover, the state has also authorized cities, towns, 
and villages to grant to park authorities the right to take and improve streets not more than a 
mile in length without the consent of the abutting property owners, and to construct surface and 
elevated ways and turn the same over to public park corporate authorities.^ 

In 1899 the Chicago City Council created the Special Park Commission, at the same time 
adopting resolutions recognizing the value of parks in preventing crime, promoting cleanliness, 
and diminishing disease; also declaring the need of greater area for parks, both large and small, 
and providing for a systematic study of the present and future needs of the city in the matter 
of parks and recreation grounds. In 1903, Cook County having created a commission to secure 
an outer belt of parks and boulevards, co-operation between the Special Park Commission and 
the Outer Belt Commission was established. 

At the instance of the Special Park Commission legislation has been enacted to enable the 
several park authorities to locate parks and pleasure grounds, of not more than ten acres in extent, 
in any portion of their respective districts, and to raise money by bond issues. On the South 
Side seventeen new parks, with a total area of 671 acres have been acquired. A feature of these 
small parks is the neighborhood-center building, provided with baths, gymnasia, refectory service, 
club rooms, and reading rooms for the district served. These "clubhouses for the people," as 
they are called, are in service both summer and winter. The outdoor swimming-pools and athletic 
fields are in charge of expert directors furnished by the authorities. The aim of the commission- 
ers is to improve the health and morals of the people, and to stimulate local pride and patriotism; 
and the work has attracted international attention. The South Side expansion movement, now 
nearing completion, will cost about seven million dollars. 

In suggesting additions to the smaller parks, the principle has been followed of placing them, 
as far as possible, on the proposed circuit boulevards. The intersections of these boulevards with 

' Report of the Special Park Commission; Compiled by Dwight Heald Perkins, 1904. 
- See Acts of May 14, 1903; May 2, 1907; April 19, 1879; June 21, 1895; May 25, 1907. 



Mt. Forest Reserve 



Lake Calumet 
Reserve 




XLIV. CHICAGO. GENER-\L MAP SHOWING TOPOGRAPHY, WATERWAYS, AX 
The parks and parkways encircle the city; they are placed in relation tp the radiating arteries, and increase in area in proportioi 

Calumet rivers, and the location of outlying townships. The elevation of the gr 



reek Reserve 









/ 


/' 


/ 




J 




/ 


/ 
/ 


/ : 



Des Plaines River 
Reserve 




MPLETE SYSTEM OF STREETS, BOULEVARDS, PARKWAYS, .\ND PARKS 

is'shown b'v incr'^a'iVH".'.7h ^^/''?^- , ^''° ''jT"" ^'''°'''^' ^^^^' ^'^'^ P^P"^''^ harbors at the mouths of the Chicago and 
IS snown dv increasing depth of color (orange), from the center of the city. 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM 



45 



streets will necessarily form round-points, which should be treated as part of the park system. 
The same principle of placing is followed for the larger play parks, in order that they may be 
reached from one another by passing through a continuous line of planting. The question of 
density of population has been considered with reference to the relative sizes of those parks which 




XL\. BERLIN. 



BLOCK PLAN SHOWING THE PARK SYSTEM (GREEN), AND PROPOSED FOREST RESERVES (DARK GREEN). 
Reproduced from "Gross Berlin." 



lie within the congested center, particularly with regard to the first circuit; and although all 
such parks cannot be placed adjacent to boulevards, they are shown connected with one another 
by important thoroughfares, so that the natural lines of travel will pass them. The smaller play 
parks disregard to some extent the above principles, because these are in the strictest sense neigh- 
borhood centers. The play parks and squares are thus balanced equally around the civic center, 
which may be said to be the center of the varying densities of population. In this way, they 
serve to accentuate the scheme of circuits laid down in the system of circulation on the 
general plan. 



46 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



The report of the Special Park Commission, issued in 1904, contains a detailed study for a 
metropolitan park system embracing aU of Cook Coimty, together with recommendations for 
an outer svstem of parks and boulevards, in the main following the watercourses throughout the 
area of the county. Thus foundations have been laid for a systematic and aggressive campaign 




Reproduced rioin '■ Gross Benin.'' 



to obtain for the people of Chicago those means of recreation and refreshment absolutely neces- 
sary' to a gro-ffing city. Extensive as the recommendations of the various park authorities appear, 
a consideration of the whole problem wiU show that they scarcely do more than meet the situation 
as it exists to-day, and that the near future wiU demand more ample spaces. The de%-elopment 
of the suburban service on steam roads, the extension of the electric lines which give quick and 
frequent ser\-ice between Chicago and cities sisty, seventy, and even a hundred mUes distant, and 
the increasing use of the automobile have brought •within the sphere of Chicago's dominating 
influence the to'wns and countr}- for a radius of at least sixty miles from the geographical center 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM 



47 



of the city. From Kenosha on the north, around to De Kalb on the west, and thence to Michigan 
City on the south, all roads lead to Chicago; and this entire region might well be included in 
a metropolitan area within which large parks shall be located, improved, and maintained 
at joint expense. 




XLVII. DISTRICT OF COLUilBIA. 



BLOCK PLAN SHOttlXG THE P.\RK SYSTEM (GREENE, AND ADDITIONS (DARK GREEN). 
Proposed by the Senate Park Commission. 



The time to secure the lands necessary for such a system is now, while as yet the prices are 
moderate and the natural scenery is comparatively unspoiled. Every year of failure or neglect 
to act largely increases the expense and diminishes the opportunities, for all of the lands about 
Chicago are almost equally available for building purposes. Already the prairie state of Illinois 
is nearly one-half urban, and the tendency towards city life is fast increasing. At the same time 
the need for breathing spaces and recreation grounds is being forced upon the attention of practi- 
cal men, who are learning to appreciate the fact that a city, in order to be a good labor-market. 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



must provide for the health and pleasure of the great body of workers. Density of population 
beyond a certain point results in disorder, vice, and disease, and thereby becomes the greatest 
menace to the well-being of the city itself. As a measure of precaution, therefore, the establish- 
ment of adequate park area is necessary. 

If Chicago is to equal or surpass London in size, the provision for open spaces here cer- 
tainly should be no less than that which the British metropolis has found necessary. And yet 
London is constantly adding to its recreation grounds. As respects large parks, that city counts 
Epping Forest, sixteen miles to the north, which with the neighboring Hainault Forest includes 
5,600 acres, an area opened by the Corporation of London in 1882, as a free and inalienable 
public park and place of recreation; and Bushy Park, fifteen miles to the west, comprising 
a thousand acres; and Richmond Park, with its 2,255 acres, not counting the famous Kew 
Gardens; while Windsor Great Park, 1,800 acres in extent, is but twenty-one miles from 
the city. Thus within a radius of twoscore miles from his city, the Londoner has at his com- 
mand large parks comprising in the aggregate more than ten thousand acres; and every traveler 
who has found himself in London on a pleasant Sunday in summer knows well how the city 
empties itself of people on that day, and how every vehicle available is brought into service to 
accommodate the crowds seeking rest and recreation in the woods and on the Thames. On 
such an afternoon the Thames at Richmond is so covered with canoes and wherries that one 
might walk dry-shod across the river, stepping from boat to boat. The great crowd of all sorts 
and conditions of men and women is gay and good natured, and the scene, as looked down upon 
from the terraces of Hampton Court, has a charm beyond the power of words to express. 

The name of Henley brings to the mind of the Englishman all that is beautiful and 
picturesque in the amateur aquatic life of that country. Henley is situated on the Thames in 
one of its most beautiful stretches; the valley is verdant; the trees are old and stately, while 
velvet lawns and gardens gay line 
the banks at frequent intervals. Back 
from the water the Chiltern Hills rise 
in a mass of green woods and waving 
grain. During regatta week, bunting, 
flags, flowers, and decorations of all 
kinds attract the eye, and the pictur- 
esque old place is made a scene of 
brightness and gayety. In the evening 
the many house-boats are aglow with 
colored lanterns; lights from boats of 
every sort flash hither and thither on 
the water, and fireworks light the 
heavens in beautiful colors. 

Paris, which is one of the great 
manufacturing centers of the world, 
has the Bois de Boulogne of 2,250 acres 
at its very gates; and only five miles distant, skirting the eastern boundary of the city, is 
the Bois de Vincennes of somewhat greater area. Thirty-seven miles distant is the forest 
of Fountainebleau, which covers no less than 42,500 acres, the most beautiful of all French 




XLVIII. LONDON. A VIEW OF ROTTEN ROW IN HYDE PARK. 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM 49 

forests; while the gardens of Versailles, with their wonderful fountains, are but fourteen miles 
away. Berlin has its great pine woods on the east, west, and north of the city, the park 
development having been made to keep pace with other radical changes which since 1878 
have transformed the German capital from a badly arranged, ill-built, and ill-kept town into 
one of the magnificent capital cities of the world. At Vienna the forest park known as 
the Prater, 4,270 acres in extent, extends along the east side of the city; and so diversified are 
the uses to which this recreation place is put, that perhaps no other single park in the world 
accommodates so many people. Large as these spaces seem, no one of the cites mentioned 
is satisfied with its present park area; but each one is striving to enlarge its opportunities for 
recreation. 

In 1893 Boston began the creation of its system of metropolitan parks, by the adoption of 
a report made that year by a special commission. Thirteen cities and twenty-six towns are now 
included in the metropolitan district; and upwards of ten thousand acres are controlled by a 
board of five commissioners. The funds for the acquirement and development of the system 
had been raised by loans represented by forty-year bonds issued by the State of Massachusetts, 
to be repaid from sinking funds made up of annual payments by the various cities and towns 
included within the district, except that the entire commonwealth has assumed about two and 
a half millions of one of the three loans, which aggregate about ten and a half millions. The 
annual payments for sinking funds, interest, and maintenance are made according to a table 
of percentages fixed by the supreme court of the state upon the report of a special commission 
appointed each five years. The original plan, although somewhat modified from time to time 
to accommodate new circumstances, has been adhered to with great fidelity as constituting the 
project for a complete outlying park system, to the gradual accomplishment of which the state 
and the district has committed itself. The appropriations, averaging between six and seven 
hundred thousand dollars a year for sixteen years, have been general in form; the commission 
has never made direct appeals or efforts to secure grants of money; but citizens concerned 
in the accomplishment of some particular portion of the system have interested themselves to 
secure the necessary funds. The woods reservations were acquired first; then Revere Beach 
and the banks of the lower Charles River; and lastly the twenty-seven miles of connecting park- 
ways. After the first ten years, the legislature reviewed the entire situation, and, finding the 
work good, provided three hundred thousand dollars a year for four years for its continuation. 
Each year increases the number of friends of the system, and the necessary funds for enlarge- 
ment or for special treatments, such as building ocean-front driveways, the acquisition of some 
specially desirable natural feature, or the construction of a connecting parkway, are provided. 

The plan of Washington provides for a complete system of parks encircling the entire city, 
uniting Potomac Park, which stretches along the river front, with the present Zoological and 
Rock Creek parks on the north ; thence by parkways to the Soldiers' Home grounds, some 
seven hundred acres in extent, and on to the valley of the Anacostia, where a tidal basin will be 
formed. The palisades of the upper Potomac, the Arlington estate, and the chain of aban- 
doned forts on the hills overlooking the city, all become parts of the simple yet comprehensive 
scheme, which is but the logical development of the original L'Enfant plan. Already Wash- 
ington is realizing in large measure the commercial advantages of civic beauty. People from 
all parts of the country are building fine residences along the broad avenues; and new business 
structures vie with the government office buildings in design and solidity. Thus the plans which 



50 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

seemed but a dream when they were first exhibited eight years ago are now so far accomphshed 
that complete realization seems plainly in sight. 

The opportunities for large parks in the immediate vicinity of Chicago are ample. First 
in importance is the shore of Lake Michigan, which should be treated as park space to the 
greatest possible extent. The Lake front by right belongs to the people. It affords their one 
great unobstructed view, stretching away to the horizon, where water and clouds seem to meet. 
No mountains or high hills enable us to look over broad expanses of the earth's surface; and 
perforce we must come even to the margin of the Lake for such a survey of nature. These views 
of a broad expanse are helpful alike to mind and body. They beget calm thoughts and feelings, 
and afford escape from the petty things of life. Mere breadth of view, however, is not all. 
The Lake is living water, ever in motion, and ever changing in color and in the form of its waves. 
Across its surface comes the broad pathway of light made by the rising sun; it mirrors the 
ever-changing forms of the clouds, and it is illumined by the glow of the evening sky. 
Its colors vary with the shadows that play upon it. In its every aspect it is a living thing, 
delighting man's eye and refreshing his spirit. Not a foot of its shores should be appropri- 
ated by individuals to the exclusion of the people. On the contrary, everything possible should 
be done to enhance its attractiveness and to develop its natural beauties, thus fitting it for the 
part it has to play in the life of the whole city. It should be made so alluring that it will become 
the fixed habit of the people to seek its restful presence at every opportunity. 

Wherever possible, the outer shore should be a beach on which the waves may break ; and 
the slopes leading down to the water should be quiet stretches of green, unvexed by the small 
irregular piers and the various kinds of projections which to-day give it an untidy appearance. 
Except where formal treatments are demanded, the inner shore should be a planted space. 
There should be lagoons, narrow and winding, along the north shore, and wider, with more 
regular lines, along the south shore. Both margins of these lagoons should be planted with 
trees and shrubs, so arranged as to leave openings of various sizes, thus making vistas of the 
water and the life upon it, to be enjoyed by the people passing along the driveways or living 
in the homes that line park stretches. These plantations should be carefully devised so as to 
display every form and color of foliage and blossom known to this climate; the foliage should 
be arranged so as to be seen here in masses and there at the end of vistas, by boatmen close at 
hand or far away over the waters. The aspect of these plantings from the open lake also should 
be studied, and especially the subject of evergreens and other forms of winter planting demands 
adequate attention. 

Moreover, the sweet breath of plant life so abundant in nature and so agreeable to man 
should give greeting to those who seek the refreshment of the parks. Color of blossoms, too, 
should be used, not in little beds or as mere incidents, but in masses stretching broadly along 
the shores of the lagoons, and even upon the surface of the water itself, where aquatic plants 
of many varieties may be made to contribute their part in this possible paradise. The culti- 
vation and maintenance of such stretches of natural beauty must have the co-operation of the 
people, to the end that the loveliness intended for all may be protected. 

The building of parks along the shore is dictated by considerations of health and enjoyment. 
The ease with which the work can be accomplished becomes apparent when one considers that 
the refuse of the city seeks a dump which cannot be found anywhere else than on the Lake front. 
Probably 1,000,000 cubic yards of waste are annually conveyed to the Lake front from Evanston 





XLIX. CHICAGO. VIEW OF THE CITY FROM JACKSON 
The proposed shore treatment as a park enclosing a waterway (or a series of lagoons) is sh 

Painted for the Commei 



This park may be built almost without cost to the people of i 
wastage from the city. This material aggregates at the prese 
acres per annum. In this manner Grant Park has already 

only a ques 



--^^^i^^S.'i 



^^^^ 




^:^ 



UC TO GRANT PARK, LOOKING TOW.\RDS THE WEST. 
together with the enlarged yacht harbor, recreation piers, and a scheme for Grant Park. 
Club by Jules Guerin. 



igo, by making use of the excavated material and general 
loment an amount sufficient to fill as many as twenty-two 
1 created, and its extension down the south shore will be 
of lime. 



A 



Grand Boulevard 



Cottage Grove 
Avenue 




;CU_J_J-^ ,-. . 

__j__i_jLJ.=j_j/:__ 
;..-^;: ^_jr:j_j_j_j._i.__. 







P 



Diagram A. Lake shore from Chicago Avenue on the north to Jac 



L. CHICAGO. PARK DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED FOR THE LAKE SHORE FROM JACKSON PARK TO WILMETTE. 

This park, enclosing lagoons for boating, would be a continuous playground for the people, and may be built by utilizing 

the wastage from the city and excavated material at practically no cost. 



CnioU Boulevard 




^vJJLL. 






LUl. CHICAGO. VIEW OF THE PROPOSED PARK OS TIIK ^ 
From ihi- drawing of 1). ir. Ilm 



^^ 



i^ 



Dia)^r.iN. A. Lake shori.- [mm Chicago Avenue on ihc north l<> Jac 



fiWn Park on ihc south. 









Diagram B. Lake shore from ChitiiKo Avenue uri the s 



:. Wilmctlc on the r 




LI. CHICAGO. VIEW LOOKING SOUTH OVER THE LAGOONS OF THE PROPOSED PARK FOR THE SOUTH SHORE. 
Painted for the Commercial Club by Jules Guerin. 




Lll. CHICAGO. SECTION THROUGH THE PARK PROPOSED FOR THE SOUTH SHORE. 

A boulevard is suggested above that portion of the railroad right-of-way used for freight; additional right-of-way open to the air 

to be provided for passenger trains; approaches to the outer park to run from the boulevard over the tracks. 



THE CHIC A GO PARK SYSTEM 51 

to South Chicago, enough to fill twenty acres of ground, raising it seven feet above the sur- 
face in twenty feet of water. The necessary breakwaters having been built, this constantly 
growing amount of waste material can be put in place cheaply. Therefore, it is wise to pro- 
vide now for the disposition of it, and to design beautiful and extensive park strips along the 
entire shore, which will almost build themselves in the course of another generation. Indeed 
both health and danger to navigation prohibit the emptying of this spoil in the Lake, as has 
been done in the past. 

These lagoons, protected from the waves of the open Lake and sheltered from the wind by 
the city on one side and the park strips on the other, will be a powerful attraction toward open- 




Lin. CHICAGO. THE \nDVVAY PLAISANCE, SHOWIXG THE PROPOSED 
WATERWAY COXNECTIXG THE LAGOONS OF WASHINGTON PARK WITH 
THOSE OF JACKSON PARK, AND EVENTUALLY WITH THE WATERWAY OF 
THE PROPOSED SHORE PARK EXTENT)ING FROM JACKSON PARK TO 
GRANT P.\RK. 

air athletics, both winter and summer; they will afford a course for races for Northwestern Uni- 
versity at the north and the Chicago University at the south. House-boats, launches, canoes, 
rowboats, and small sailboats will ply upon them, as well as craft for the public use, such as are 
usual on the Thames, the Seine, and the canals of Venice. The waterway should be lined with 
restaurants and pleasure pavilions and with public bath houses; swimming beaches should be 
constructed on their shores, which by careful designing can be made as picturesque as any 
inland river. Both shores should be a part of the general design, and together with the lagoon 
itself these shores should be owned by the park authorities, in order that the whole may be effec- 
tually policed. 

Imagine this supremely beautiful parkway, with its frequent stretches of fields, playgounds, 
avenues, and groves, extending along the shore in closest touch with the life of the city throughout 
the whole water front. What will it do for us in health and happiness? After it is finished 
will the people of means be so ready to run away and spend their money in other cities ? Where 
else can they find such delightful conditions as at home ? We should no longer lose so much of 
the cream of our earnings, now spent in other lands. When this parkway shall be created, our 
people will stay here, and others will come to dwell among us — the people who now spend 
time and large amounts of money in Paris, in Vienna, and on the Riviera. It will turn back 



52 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



i 





the stream of profits which have to such a large degree gone away from us, and every one hving 
here will feel the result of this change, for between prosperity and bad times there is often but a 
small percentage, and the community which can keep its earnings at home prospers. 

In order to appreciate the recreation which the Lake front when properly developed will 
afford, one has but to recall the pleasure which similar waters afford to the people of other 
countries. For example, the clusters or fringes of islands in the vicinity of Stockholm form a 
favorite resort for the yachtsmen of Sweden, their chief rendezvous being Sandham, a pilot station 
on the margin of the Baltic. Tourists enjoy the exhibitions of swimming given in the public 
baths of Stockholm, and the canoeing on the numerous lakes and waterways. The winter 
sports and competitions — skating, skee-running, skate-sailing, ice-yachting, sledge-kicking, and 

toboganning — are famous 
the world over; and the 
Sport Park (Idrottsparken) 
at Stockhom is one of the 
features of the city. 

From South Chicago to 
Grant Park the treatment 
proposed is made up of a 
parkway along the actual 
shore line, following the 
right-of-way of the Illinois 
Central Railroad ; and also 
a wide park strip entirely 
in the Lake, enclosing a 
series of lagoons. On the 
north a similar treatment is 
suggested, except that here 
the parkway is somewhat 
narrower than on the South 
Side, and an additional element is introduced in the form of a chain of outlying islands. The 
arrangement on the north comprises two roadways, the first following the shore as it exists to-day, 
while the second roadway runs within the park strip lying beyond the lagoons. In the latter park- 
way the line is simplified and irregularities disappear to a large extent, the outer line from North 
Avenue to Evanston finally becoming a double curve. This is further enveloped with a line formed 
by the chain of islands which it is proposed to build on the shallows. This line curves gently 
from the north in a southerly direction until it joins the outer park strip north of the River. This 
point is the beginning of the line which flows towards the south shore. A yacht harbor should 
be constructed at the northern end. The sport of yachting is very greatly in need of encourage- 
ment of this form, as the navigation of Lake Michigan is rather dangerous, and there is now no 
point north of the River to which a yacht can nm for shelter. In addition to the northern yacht 
harbor, there should be other harbors, in the lee of the proposed islands, out in the Lake. These 
would be of the utmost value to yachtsmen, as they would afford from mile to mile a point of 
refuge in case of surprise by squalls. 

For the most part, an informal landscape treatment is proposed for the two park strips; 



i- 



CHICAGO. TYPICAL VIEW ACROSS THE PROPOSED SOUTH SHORE 
PARK, FOR EXAMPLE, AT WOODLAND PARK. 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM 



53 




LV. ENGLAND. HENLEY-ON-THAMES THE REGATTA COURSE. 



but where the bridges cross the lagoons, a more formal treatment is introduced and pavilions are 
provided for the various recreation purposes. It is also proposed to create a yacht harbor just 
north of Jackson Park, where the shallowness of the water permits the formation of e.xtensive 

meadows by filling; and also to fill 
in above the shoals dotting the shore, 
with a group of islands. Broadly 
stated, the treatment of the shore 
from South Chicago to Wilmette may 
be said to be one which will result in 
the restoration or perfection of the line 
already existing; while the formal 
treatment proposed at the bridges, 
which are spaced at intervals of from 
one to two miles, will create a rhythm 
which even in this broad, general 
scheme must have its value. 

Next in the importance to the 
development of the Lake shore possi- 
bilities is the acquisition and improve- 
ment of forest spaces. Both the water front and the near-by woodlands should be brought 
within easy reach of all the people, and especially of the wage-earners. Natural scenery 
furnishes the contrasting element to the artificiality of the city. All of us should often run 
away from the works of men's hands and back into the wilds, where mind and body are restored 
to a normal condition, and we are enabled to take up the burden of life in our crowded 
streets and endless stretches of buildings with renewed vigor and hopefulness. Those who 
have the means and are so placed in 
their daily employments that they can 
do so constantly seek the refreshment 
of the country. Should not the public 
see to it that every one may enjoy 
this change of scene, this restorer of 
bodily and mental vigor, and will 
not citizenship be better thereby? 
He who habitually comes in close 
contact with nature develops saner 
methods of thought than can be the 
case when one is habitually shut up 
within the walls of a city. If a census 
of the purposes and acts of all of the 
people of Chicago as they affect the 

general good could be made for this year of grace 1909, and again in 1933, after the creation of 
extensive forests in the suburbs, the percentage of improvement affecting the whole community 
would probably be quite surprising. The existing public parks go far in this direction, but not far 
enough. The spaces to be acquired should be wild forests, filled with such trees, vines, flowers, 




LVL ENGLANT). HENLEY-ON-TH.\MES: A REGATTA. 
Illustrating the life which would develop in the lagoons of the pro- 
posed Lake Shore Parks. 



54 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



and shrubs as will grow in this climate, and all should be developed in a natural condition. 
Country roads and a few paths should run through these forests, but they should not be cut 
into small divisions. There should be open glades here and there, and other natural features, 
and the people should be allowed to use them freely. 

In the disposition of interior parks the main consideration should be, first, to distribute the 
areas about the city as evenly as possible, so as to make large parks readily accessible to all citi- 















.kAjt JS; .mjl J^!.,'?^ 



LVII. VERSMLLES, PRANCE. 



PLAN OF THE PALACE, PARK, AND GARDENS, AND THE GREAT ARTERIES 
LEADING TO THE GATES. 



zens; and secondly, to select for improvement those localities which have the greatest charm 
and value as park lands. Happily nature has furnished the opportunity to combine both con- 
siderations. The wooded bluffs and ravines at the northern boundary of Cook County in Glen- 
coe mark a natural park entrance from Lake Michigan. The virgin forest known as the Peter- 
son woods, south of Peterson Avenue, the Gibbs woods, north of Gibbs Street, a beautiful spot 
on the Chicago River south of Central Avenue, are especially attractive features of this stretch. 
In spring the bloom of the thorn, the crab-apple, and the wild plum are features of the landscape; 
the ground is everywhere carpeted with flowers; there are forests of elm, oak, ash, willow, and 
Cottonwood ; and the Skokee marsh in beauty vies with the Lake itself. At a distance of a mile 
inland the valley of the North Branch of the Chicago River is reached. In this valley the views 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM 



55 




LVin. VERSAILLES, FRANCE. VTEW FROM THE 
TERRACE, LOOK.LNG DOWN THE MAIN AXIS. 



are particularly beautiful, especially where the 
stretches are unbroken by constructions of any 
kind. To the north the valley stretches far be- 
yond the county line; to the south it is framed 
on both sides with forest lands. In the region 
of Central Avenue these forest lines spread, tak- 
ing in the grounds of the Glenview Golf Club, 
closing again between Kenilworth and Bryn jMawT 
avenues, where the foliage closely follows the 
banks of the River. The area which should be 
taken for this particular northern park includes 
upwards of eight thousand acres, and at the 
present time the land can be had at compara- 
tively small expense. 



The opportunity for a park area entirely 
surrounding the city is to be found in the exten- 
sion of the Lake entrance at Glencoe westward 
until it reaches the valley of the Des Plaines; 
thence the park stretch would extend south along 
that valley to Riverside, and, taking in the valleys 
of Salt and Flag creeks, still southerly to the 
Drainage Canal. Turning to the east, the line 
would extend along the Calumet Feeder, Stony 
Creek, and Little Calumet River to and including 
Lake Calumet, and thence to the Lake front. 

The Des Plaines River from the county line 
to Riverside flows mainly through thickly wooded 
country which the parkway plans include; the 




PARIS. VIEW OF THE SUNKEN GARDEN 
IN THE LUXEMBOURG GARDENS. 




LX. ST. GERMAIN, FRANCE. VIEW OF AN 

AVENTJE IN THE FOREST AND ROUND-POINT. 

This avenue crosses above a railroad. 



forests for the most part lie on the east side of 
the River, occasionally crossing to the west side. 
There are places of great beauty on the River 
banks, including Thatcher's Park at River 
Forest, which has been fenced in, and where an 
admission fee is charged. South of River Forest 
the parkway divides, and, passing around the 
cemeteries at Harlem, joins the River at River- 
side. From Harlem to the southern extremity 
of Riverside the foliage and the scenery generally 
are exceptionally fine. The boulevard from 
Summit, running in a southwesterly direction to 
Spring Forest, commands fine views, particu- 
larly over the rising wooded land of Du Page 



S6 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



County. Mount Forest is covered with trees, and presents many delightful outlooks from its 
height; these are particularly fine in the southwestern extremity, where the valley of the Des 
Plaines to the southwest and northwest, and the Sag valley to the east, all are visible. Evergreen 




\ 



LXI. CHICAGO. PLAN OF A PARK PROPOSED ON THE MAIN EAST- 

AND-VVEST AXIS OF THE CITY AT CONGRESS STREET AND FIFTY-SECOND 

AVENUE. 

Park is noted for its evergreens, and Sherman farm is thickly wooded. As in the Chicago River 
region, the thorn, the crab-apple, and wild plum abound ; and the great forests consist of elm, 
Cottonwood, and willow, the elm seeming to predominate. The forests in the Palos region stretch 
south as far as the eye can reach. 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM 



57 




The Calumet is an ample 
stream, and on every hand the 
silhouettes of steel industries 
give strong evidence of the com- 
ing importance of this channel 
as a harbor. Every effort, there- 
fore, should be made to concen- 
trate the vehicle traffic crossing 
this river at well-chosen points 
where great bridges might be 
constructed, in order to create 
as little friction as possible be- 
tween the vessel and the land 
traffic. On the banks of the Cal- 
umet, in the neighborhood of 
One Hundred and Third Street, 
are large swamps capable of 
being developed into fine parks; 
the country is gently undu- 
lating, with plenty of wood- 
land, and the view across Calu- 
met Lake is fine. It is pro- 
posed to create a driveway 
around Lake Calumet, and to 
reclaim the low lands south of 



the lake without essentially 
changing their present topog- 
raphy; also to plant a belt of 
woods surrounding this lake 
park set in one of the greatest 
manufacturing districts in the 
world; and to construct road- 
ways to form connections with 
the different park reservations 
and at the same time to become 
highways to the city. 

The encircling system of 
forest parks and park con- 
nections as thus outlined, when 
taken in conjunction either 
with the existing interior boule- 
vards and the Sheridan Road, 
or the proposed driveway along 




58 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



-LI 1 1 iJ--L 



the Lake lagoons makes a circuit of about one hundred miles, every portion of which would serve 
directly an adjoining portion of the city. Such a comprehensive system of outlying parks is for the 
Chicago of to-day quite as practical and quite as much needed as were the boulevards of a gener- 
ation ago, which have now become 
interior thoroughfares of priceless 
value. The forest preserves, with 
their bordering driveways, would 
in time come to be lined with 
residences and large estates, and 
rise in the value of the adjoin- 
ing lands would permit the city 
to recoup in taxation many times 
the cost of lands now of small 
value. 

The grouping of manufac- 
turing towns at the southern end 
of Lake Michigan, and the seri- 
ous attempts that have been 
made (especially in Pullman and 
Gary) to provide excellent living 
conditions for people employed 
in large operations, create a de- 
mand for extensive parks in that 
region; because no city condi- 
tions, however ideal in them- 
selves, supply the craving for 
real out-of-door life, for forests 
and wild flowers and streams. 
Human nature demands such 
simple and wholesome pleasures 
as come from roaming the woods, 
for rowing and canoeing, and for 
sports and games that require 
large areas. The increasing 
number of holidays, the growing 
use of Sunday as a day of rest 
and refreshment for body and 
mind tired by the exacting tasks 
of the week, together with the 
constant improvement in the scale of living, all make imperative such means of enjoyment as the 
large park provides. Therefore, adequate provision for the growing populations that of necessity 
must live in restricted town areas requires that in the region south and southwest of Chicago all 
those marsh lands and wooded ridges which nature has thus far preserved from being 
taken for manufacturing purposes now should be secured for the parks that in the next 




LXIV. CHICAGO. PLAN OF SHERMAN PLAYGROUND AND PARK. 

The assembly hall, gymnasia, and open-air swimming pool, forming a group 

as the center of the composition. 



THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM 



59 





LXV. CHICAGO. MARK WHITE SQUARE. 
View of the children's wading pool and the field house. 




LXVI. CHICAGO. HAMILTON PARK. 
View of the boys' gymnasium. 



6o 



PLAN OF CHICAG O 



generation will be required, but 
which will be beyond reach unless 
taken in the immediate future. 
The development of a sys- 
tem of outlying large parks along 
the lines above indicated will 
give to Chicago breathing-spaces 
adequate at least for the imme- 
diate future; the physical char- 
acter of the lands to be taken will 
insure a diversity in natural fea- 
tures most pleasing and refreshing 
to dwellers in cities; and the 
aquisition of the areas entirely 
around the present city will afford 
convenient access for all the citizens, so that each section will be accommodated. Moreover, 
the development of especially beautiful sections, such as the region about Lake Zurich, will give 
marked individuality to Chicago's outlying park system. It is by seizing on such salient features 
of a landscape and emphasizing their peculiar features that the charm and the dignity of the city 
are enhanced. 




LXVII. CHICAGO. SHERMAN PARK.. 
Field-house seen from the west side. 




LXVIII. CHICAGO. SHERMAN PARK. 
View of the open-air swimming pool. 




CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF A SYSTEM OF FREIGHT H.\NDLING FOR LAND AND WATER 

TRANSPORTATION, TO BE WORKED IN CONJUNCTION WITH ONE ANOTHER. 

(i) A central clearing and warehousing yard. (2) A north harbor at the mouth of the Chicago River. 

(3) A south harbor at the mouth of the Calumet River. (4) Underground freight lines interconnectimr 

the city stations, the central yard, and the two harbors ; these lines are shown in red ; they do nol 

represent exact locations of the routes. 

CHAPTER V 

TRANSPORTATION: A FREIGHT CENTER: GROUPING OF PASSENGER STATIONS: A LOOP SYSTEM 

HICAGO has been made largely by the railroads, and its 
future prosperity is dependent upon them. In the past, however, 
it has been the increase in the number of roads reaching this city 
which has built up its commerce ; but now, with twenty-two trunk 
lines entering Chicago from every possible direction, and with con- 
nections extending to all portions of the country, the question 
of numbers has ceased to be the important one. 

The present problem is to handle the traffic of the railroads 
with dispatch and at the lowest cost. The city is too large for 
each raihroad to attempt to maintain a separate system unrelated 
to that of any other except the physical connection of the tracks. 
The time has come to develop one common system for the handling of freight, — a traffic 
clearing-house. The whole perplexing and intensely intricate subject requires not only the 

61 




62 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

careful study of men expert in such matters, but also a spirit of mutual forbearance and 
conciliation among railroad managers for the sake of promoting the general good. 

Not that any one road of the entire twenty-two should be expected to make what will ulti- 
mately prove a sacrifice, but that no road should hold back from doing its full part to bring about 
the conditions essential to the continued prosperity of the city by the development in Chicago 
of a unified system of traffic handling that shall place this city ahead of any other in so far as 
efficiency and cheapness are concerned. The fine arts of traffic management should be studied 
no less than the fine arts of parks and boulevards; for unless Chicago keeps ahead of her rivals 
in commercial matters, the parks will become pastures, and the boulevards will be deserted. 

In an address made in Chicago during the winter of 1906-7 Mr. James J. Hill laid the 
utmost stress on the necessity for improved railway terminals. At that time a cry was going up 
for more cars. Traffic was delayed, the railways being entirely unable to handle promptly the 
freight offered them. Mr. Hill pointed out that the main difficulty was not lack of cars, but 
lack of proper terminal facilities. It was a fact that hundreds and even thousands of loaded 
cars were at that very moment standing on the tracks in the yards of every one of the great 
trunk lines, which with their utmost efforts could not place these cars at the sides of the receiv- 
ing platforms in the various cities. It is not an extreme statement to say that business was 
almost paralyzed on account of the inability of the roads to handle at the terminals the freight 
traffic of the country. On all the two-track lines continuous trains could have been handled 
from one terminus to another, if the cars could have been rescued from the disordering condi- 
tions in which they were involved and lost to use. The railroad companies were unable to make 
proper use of their own rolling stock and main lines, all because of the congested condition of 
their terminals, in which there were tracks enough, but tracks so badly placed and arranged 
as to deprive the roads of the full benefit of their aggregate mileage. 

The bad arrangement of terminal tracks was not alone responsible for the congested con- 
dition which then prevailed at Chicago, New York, Pittsburg, and many other points. In an 
equal or perhaps greater degree the habit of hauling all the freight into the heart of a city and 
then hauling most of it out again was the cause of the trouble. If freight stations and yards 
located close to the center of the business district of a city were inadequate under the conditions 
that obtained in the winter of 1906-7, what will be the result at the next test, which will surely 
be a more severe one ? 

The conclusion is inevitable. Either nearly every one of the great railroads must increase 
and improve both its main line and such of its freight houses and yards as are now located in 
the heart of the city, or they must cease to bring all freight into the congested business center. 
Separate roads operating separate and independent rights-of-way to the separate and inde- 
pendent freight houses cannot do the work. 

Year by year the railroads have gone on straightening their lines, reducing grades, and 
building additional tracks; and the result has been large savings in operating expenses. The 
time has now come to devise some plan whereby the enormous terminal costs will be lessened 
materially; and that city will benefit most wherein this problem shall be worked out first and 
best. 

This report does not attempt to dictate ; or to discuss the practical questions of railroading. 
Its aim in respect to transportation is the same as in regard to all other matters of Chicago's 
welfare, namely, to incorporate such generalizations as are obviously true, logical, and helpful; 



TRANSPORTATION 



63 




because it is recognized fully that unless the 
railroads have power to improve their ter- 
minals, this city will be hopelessly left behind 
in the struggle for commercial advancement. 
The same spirit that is evoked to bring about 
other improvements is necessary also in the 
case of the railroads. 

In order to obtain for the community as a 
whole the greatest economy per ton handled, 



DIAGRAM A 



no goods should be carried into and out of 
the congested business center except those 
needed for construction, for retailing, or for 
consumption in that territory. Goods that 
are now brought into Chicago as a center, 
and from thence sold and distributed to the 
country outside of Chicago, should be stored 
at some point most convenient for the pur- 
pose, — most convenient for deposit and for 
reloading and carrying away to other points. 
It is obvious that the spot chosen be one most 
convenient for the shipping public as a whole; 
and therefore if common ground for such a 
great general depot can be found for all the 
roads, it will best answer the purposes of 




DIAGRAM B. 

LXX. CHICAGO. ASSEMBLING-INTERCHANGE; DIA- 
GRAMS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT OF THE COM- 
MITTEE. C. W. HOTCHKISS, CONSULTING ENGINEER. 

(A) Present method of handling interchange of freight on 
railroads in center of city. (B) Proposed method of han- 
dling interchange of freight on railroads by means of a belt 
line and clearing yards, disengaging the center of the city 
from existing freight congestion. 



64 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



quick handling and of lowest cost per ton. A central depot, and common track facilities which 
should form a part of it, would bring about time and money saving both to the railroads them- 
selves and to the trading public. For the sake, therefore, of the best interests of all the citizens 
of Chicago, it is proposed that great machines owned and operated in common by all the rail- 
roads be created to handle freight 
business. 

A careful analysis of the en- 
tire freight traffic of Chicago shows 
that ninety-five per cent, in and 
out, is done by the railroads, and 
only five per cent is done by water. 
It is the opinion of leading mer- 
chants and manufacturers of this 
city, as well as of traffic managers 
of both rail and water transpor- 
tation, that this average percent- 
age of tonnage will not change 
in the future. This being the 
case, the location of a great 
common freight depositing and 
reloading station for all the roads 
should be located at a point most 
economical for them as a whole, 
at the common center of gravity 
so to speak. This center of grav- 
ity is at or near the location shown 
on the diagram. Here should be 
trackage capable of handling in 
the best manner all freight trains 
coming into or departing from 
Chicago, which are intended to 
do business other than local 
and suburban. It should be so 
arranged that individual incoming 
cars can be promptly placed beside 
the intended unloading platform or warehouse, where the goods can be handled with dispatch, and 
as largely as possible by machinery. The car so unloaded should be at once placed at the platform 
from which it is to take its new load, and then be entrained and started away to its next destination. 
At this freight center may be the great warehouses of the city, arranged in reference to the 
tracks and service. These mutual relations must of necessity produce economy of handling 
goods, and economy of the closest sort. If the car and track service be perfected from the 
freight train standpoint, Chicago will have an advantage not possessed by any other trade center 
of the world, and her equipment will be fully equal to her destiny. The principal results would 
be the quick handling of freight trains by all the roads, their rapid unloading and reloading. 




LXXI. CHICAGO. SKETCH DIAGRAM OF DOCKS SUGGESTED AT 
THE MOUTH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER FOR PACKAGE FREIGHT 

STEAMERS. 



TRANSPORTATION 



65 



and their exemption from passing into or through the crowded city. This would result in 
an enormous saving every year. Such a scheme can be carried out here, because the entire 
surrounding country is fiat. 

The relief from the congestion in the city now caused by bringing in and carrying out goods 
not to be consumed there will result in less crowding in the city, and also in the saving of its 
pavements, in much less dirt, and finally, in a mitigation of the smoke nuisance, because of the 
removal of freight engines and manufacturing to the new freight handling locality. 




LXXII. CHICAGO. SKETCH DIAGRAM OF DOCKS SUGGESTED AT THE MOUTH OF THE 

CALUMET RIVER FOR BULK FREIGHT STEAMERS; ACCESS TO BE HAD WITHOUT 

OPENING OF BRIDGES. 



Together with this freight handling center should be a harbor in connection with each of 
the two rivers, the Chicago and the Calumet. These two harbors should be connected under- 
ground or overhead by freight ways operated electrically, and they should also be connected 
with the freight handling center. The four elements, namely, freight center, two harbors, and 
the connecting systems, will then form one complete machine for doing almost all the transpor- 
tation of goods for Chicago for all time. No doubt the present tunnel railway system should 
be tied up with and form part of this machine: all probably to be owned jointly by some gen- 
eral utility corporation. In such case any merchant or manufacturer, located wherever he may 
be, could, in the shortest space of time and at lowest cost per ton, receive goods from the great 
depository (the freight center) or send them to it for entraining. 

The present underground system of tunnels already extends under all of the streets in the 
old business district of Chicago, and is extending on the North, South, and West Sides. It is 



66 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

connected with all of the railway freight stations, its floor is about 40 feet from the street surface, 
and is connected at that level with chambers under many of the leading commercial and manu- 
facturing establishments and office buildings of the city, from each of which freight elevators 
deliver goods to and from the shipping-rooms above. Any existing tunnel system can be util- 
ized as far as it will go in carrying out a complete system of underground distribution. 

The freight handling center should become a perfect machine in itself. Trains of freight 
cars coming to or going from the city should be handled there, so that the individual cars may be 
placed at the particular warehouse from which goods are to come, and from these cars the new 
trains should be made up in station order. No considerable car supply should be kept on hand 
in this freight yard. In the course of time, when the freight business of Chicago shall have 
greatly increased, the present freight-car yards will be needed for storage of cars, and holding 
those needing repairs or rebuilding. The yards will then perform an important function, for 
when more cars are needed at the great central freight machine, they can be sent thither from 
each of the separate yards. Should a surplus of cars exist at the center of any road, this surplus 
can be withdrawn to that road's ovra yard. 

One of the large retail merchants of Chicago, when in need of a fresh case of goods, now 
telephones to his own storehouse situated far from his shop, and through the underground tun- 
nel quickly receives goods in a sealed car. This method of supplying the merchant's needs 
illustrates what will happen to all merchants when the central freight depot shall come 
fully into existence. A method that will work with precision, quickness, and close economy 
will relieve the down-town streets of freight traffic now hauled over them, and therefore make 
the streets cleaner and more lasting. Will not these great general facilities profoundly affect 
for the better the material prosperity of Chicago as a whole ? When this system shall be put in 
operation, the better street plan, and the enlargement and improvements suggested for parks, 
parkways, and the Lake front, will cause the city to become permanently and highly prosperous. 

In connection with the freight diagrams, the one numbered LXXIII should be considered. 
It shows a radical change in warehousing, and perhaps manufacturing, which will take time and 
cannot be put into effect abruptly, but is undoubtedly the logical outcome and ultimately must 
prevail. It also shows the present tendency of growth of both manufacturing and warehous- 
ing which seems to follow and cling to belt lines of railroad, especially when such lines run be- 
side the River or Canal, where every sort of freighting economy now in vogue can be made use 
of. It is evident that while present methods continue in use, and until the great freight scheme 
can be put into operation, some common facility railroad highways must be introduced in 
order to improve the handling of freight in the direction of quickness and cost. The diagram 
(No. LXXIII) shows what these freight common facilities should be, namely: 

1. An inner loop (A), 

2. Loop (B), connected as shown with the inner loop, 

3. Loop (C), also connected with the inner loop, and finally, loop (D). 

If these three loops be wide, many-tracked, and operated for the benefit of all railroads, then 
the movement of freight can be increased in efficiency; and such manufacturers and warehouse- 
men as build against the loops can be accommodated with everything needed to carry on their 
individual activities. Freight stations can be located on these loops wherever required, and 
each can be certain of quick and cheap service, the common facilities being operated by the 
railroads. A detail diagram for freight in the center of the city is shown in No. LXXIV. 




LXXIII. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF THE CITY AND SURROUNDING COUNTRY, SHOWING RAILROAD CIRCUITS, B, C, D, 

AND E, WHICH ARE, OR MAY BECOME, TAXGENT TO THE INNER CIRCUIT (A). 

The diagram also shows the existing industries, and the probable trend of growth away from the center of the city. 



68 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

It is proposed to extend the freight lines to the Lake front piers and harbors. The excur- 
sion-boat piers, as well as the recreation piers and those at the harbors, are to be thus connected. 
It is probable that many of the present freight houses of the railroads will remain and carry on 
their functions as at present, except as to goods now hauled into and out of Chicago, although 
intended solely for outside trade. As they are already connected by tunnel, they can be and will 
be used for the city-consumption trade, and to supply the great number of smaller retailers and 
others who cannot afford to operate separate individual freight elevators from their shops to the 
tunnel railroad. 

At the present time much of the near-by farm stuff for housekeepers, hotels, and restaurants 
is brought into the city on wagons which load late in the afternoon and travel at night, reaching 
the general market at South Water Street or West Market at dawn. Much if not all of this 
freightage can be done cheaper to the truck farmers, and more satisfactorily to the consumer, 
by cars run at night on the trolley and elevated lines. Between one and seven o'clock in the 
morning these roads should render this important service. The saving of wear and tear on road- 
beds due to the elimination of heavy teaming is, all by itself, enough to recommend the adoption 
of the above suggestion. Besides, the convenience of both producer and consumer is to be con- 
sidered, and also the saving of time and the cheapening of provisions. 

The proposed street plan of Chicago is based on a system of circuits and radials. This is 
also true of the railroad and traction systems. As shown on the accompanying diagrams, the 
heart of Chicago is surrounded by a circuit of railways, which may be said to follow Michigan 
Avenue, Canal Street, Sixteenth Street, and Kinzie Street. Following the same lines, a subway 
circuit may be constructed for handling freight, and another for passengers, the latter running, 
however, on Twelfth and Washington. To this circuit would be tangent three others enclosing 
areas increasing in size around the center of the city as above described. By means of these 
circuits a complete system of distribution of passengers and freight may be secured. To the 
inner circuit will relate the various services of distribution of the elements of life, produce, and 
commodities for manufacture; and on it should be placed the freight substations, the markets 
for general produce, the main post-office, and postal substations. The various services for 
water, sewers, power, telephone, and telegraph, also may be schemed on the inner circuit as a 
basis. To it will also correspond the inner circuit of boulevard circulation. 

Although these various circuits do not correspond in exact detail to one another, they may 
be said to be virtually superposed, and to serve not only the intensely active center of the city, but 
also the enclosing zone as far as the second boulevard circuit — Michigan Avenue, Twenty- 
second Street, Ashland Avenue, and Chicago Avenue — an ideal condition if the main circula- 
tion of the streets be left free and uninterrupted in its working. 

The center line on which balance the circuit A, and all the others to a greater or less degree, 
is the axial line of Congress Street. The two great arteries, Halsted and Congress streets, may 
be said to form the grand crossing, at the intersection of which it is proposed to place the civic 
center. The base of this civic center touches the west side of the inner circuit, tangent to which 
are all the other circuits. The importance of this inner circuit will thus be seen. The tangent 
or line of coincidence extends from Lake Street to Sixteenth Street. It may be used as the clear- 
ing-house for all the interests above described, coming to and going from the heart of the city. 

The passenger lines entering the densely inhabited parts of the city should not cross each 
other or carriage roads at grade. Much has been done already, and much more is proposed to 



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LXXIV. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF THE CITY CENTER, SHOWING THE GENERAL LOCATION OF EXISTING FREIGHT 

YARDS AND RAILROAD LINES, THE PRESENT TUNNEL SYSTEM AND PROPOSED CIRCUIT, AND CONNECTIONS FOR 

ALL THESE SERVICES, RUNNING TO THE CENTRAL CLE.\RING Y.\RDS. 



70 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 




LXXV. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF THE CITY, SHOWING COMPLETE SYSTEM OF INNTER CIRCUITS. 
(i) General traction subway circuit. (2) General railroad freight circuit. 

eliminate grade crossings. In European cities, and in some American cities as well, the rail- 
roads have taken great pains to beautify their rights-of-way, a step very important to the roads 
themselves, to individual passengers, and to the community at large. Cleanliness and pleasing 
treatment of the roadways, the embankments, the drainage channels, the fences, the yards, and 
the stations, large and small, insure better service on the part of the railroad employees, while the 
appearance of the city is immensely improved thereby. 

The terminal stations in the city should be either above or below the street levels. They 
should be centrally located, but always arranged so as to avoid the closing of streets. The two 
best available locations for permanent passenger stations for all the roads are, first, between 
Canal and Clinton streets from Lake Street to Twelfth Street, and on Twelfth Street widened 



TRANSPORTATION 



71 




LXXVI. DRESDEN. \1.\DUCT .\ND R.\IL\VAY STATION (HAUPT 
B.\HN-HOF) PASSING ABOVE THE NORMAL STREET LEVEL, ILLUS- 
TRATING THE TYPE PROPOSED IN THE OVERHE.\D SCHEME 
FOR RAILWAY STATIONS WEST OF THE RIVER. 



as proposed. In the case of the terminal stations between Canal and Clinton streets, the tracks 
either under or over street grades may be allowed to extend out to the street curb lines and 

possibly farther. Whether under or over 
the grade, the railroads should be allowed 
to occupy this entire space. In case the 
overhead system be adopted, there should 
be two open plazas, one preferably at 
Washington Street and the other at Con- 
gress Street; and the plazas should have 
no tracks above them, except passovers 
on each side of the plazas. 

In case of overhead installation, 
the roads may, for the present, burn 
coal in their locomotives. In case of 
depressed rights-of-way coal cannot be 
burned unless the spaces from street 
to street over the railways be kept open. 
In the long run, it will be very costly to 
do this, because all this space from street 
to street, so long as not needed by the 
railroads, could be used for markets, commercial booths, and warehouses, the rentals reducing 
the cost of operation to the road. 

In case of 
elevation, the via- 
ducts over the 
streets should 
have sidewalk 
lights between the 
rails, and these 
viaducts should be 
freed of posts, 
deep girders be- 
ing used ; the walls 
and pavements 
should be as near- 
ly white as pos- 
sible. The Eighth 
Street subway 
under the Union 
Station yard at 
Washington,D.C., 

is a good example of what such a structure should be. There is no reason why these viaducts 
should not be very attractive when brilliantly lighted. Each should have a handsome police 
house in the center, with windows arranged to give a clear view of the entire space included 




LXXVII. VIENNA. A R.\ILWAY VT.ADUCT P.\SSING OVER AN I.MPORT.\NT STREET. 



72 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



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LXXVIII. SUGGESTED LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE RAILWAY PASSENGER STATIONS WEST OF THE 
RIVER. SUBWAY SCHEME: 1. PLAN OF STREET LEVEL. 2. PLAN BELOW STREET LEVEL. 

under the tracks. There is no reason why this construction, even if elevated, should not pre- 
sent a very pleasing appearance as seen from Canal Street or Clinton Street. Whether there are 
buildings or only unoccupied spaces beneath, they can be enclosed by masonry vi^alls extending 
high enough above track level effectually to screen the trains from view. Such a structure would 
be similar in general effect to the great Roman aqueducts. It might be made not only of prac- 
tical value, but at the same time a highly interesting and even a grand architectural detail 
lending orderly distinction to that part of the city. 

The Twelfth Street location would extend from State Street west to the South Branch of the 
Chicago River, straightened as shown on the diagram, according to the design for the passenger 
stations of Chicago which was made and published years ago. Here the purpose is to care for 
passenger service of every sort, except that of roads coming in on the West Side system. These 
stations should open on the great Twelfth Street Boulevard, which in front of the stations should 
be two hundred and fifty feet wide, and east and west of the stations should be one hundred 
and eighty feet in width. This boulevard would begin to rise at Michigan Avenue, and at the 
final elevation, which is at the level of the main floor of the stations, should pass over the River 
on a double-deck bascule bridge. This thoroughfare should come to the present street level at 
Canal Street, where there is to be a round-point from which a new street should extend to the 
civic center. As a one hundred and fifty foot wide boulevard, Twelfth Street should continue 



TRANSPORTATION 



73 







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LXXDC. SUGGESTED LOCATION AND ARR.ANGEMENT OF THE R.\ILWAY PASSENGER STATIONS WEST OF THE 
RINER. 0\ERHE.\D SCHEME: 1. PLAN AT STREET LEVEL. 2. PLAN ABOVE STREET LEVEL. 

westward until it joins the West Park Boulevard now existing on the same line, west of Ashland 
Avenue. The present rights-of-way of the railroads passing under Twelfth Street can go into 
business use without loss to the corporations owning them. The freight systems and track- 
age for all of these roads should be underneath the proposed passenger stations and their yards. 

No more modern or perfect machine could possibly be devised for both passenger and 
freight in a great city's heart than that included in the two schemes above shown and 
explained. Of necessity they should have an ideal street-car connection with all parts of the 
city. To accomplish this result it is proposed: 

First, to carry the elevated loop along the side and east of the West Side passenger system ; 
along the side and south of the Twelfth Street passenger system; thence over to the Alley L as 
at present, around by Lake Street and across to the West Side passenger station, forming a 
complete overhead circuit. 

Second, there should be a surface street-car circuit following the same route, with minor 
circuits within it. 

Third, there should be an underground street-car system following substantially the same 
route as first mentioned above, but extending under the main branch of the River and running 
east and west at or near Michigan Street. Two extensions of this serv-ice are shown north of the 
River, two south of Twelfth Street, and one west, at or near Ashland Avenue. 



74 ' PLANOFCHICAGO 

This entire system of stations and street-car routes is shown on diagram marked No. LXXX. 
If carried out, many times the present number of people can be handled in the center of 
Chicago; and all streets can be kept open on their present level north and south, east and 
west, giving every possible opportunity for circulation on foot and in wagons and carriages, 
since surfaces would be available for carrying people below and above the present grades. 

The better circulation of people on the streets and on street-car systems is not all or even 
the principal gain anticipated. Of first importance is the restoration to general business of the 
territory from State Street to the South Branch of the River, and from Van Buren Street south to 
Twelfth Street. This area is almost as large as our present central business district of Chicago, 
in which there can now be no extension of such of our great industries as can succeed only 
when operated in the very center of the business district. Present conditions are crowding out 
enterprising men and vast capital. This new area must be added to the old, and by no other 
means than those proposed can this be done. The regions north of the main River and west of 
the South Branch are filling up solidly and very rapidly with business, such as is not and never 
will be done on the old location from Van Buren Street to Water Street ; meanwhile there is the 
most urgent necessity of extending the space for the kind of business that is and always will be 
done on such a location as the one proposed. If this is the case now, what will be the case 
ten years hence? We cannot act too promptly in regard to creating and maintaining perfect 
street circulation, car circulation, and extension of area for the heart of Chicago. We cannot 
get ready too soon for the enormous extension of all those facilities the necessity for which is 
already pressing. 

By the arrangement of passenger stations at Canal and Twelfth streets, the business center 
is convenient for pedestrians, and with the addition of the underground and overhead loops, the 
entire business district is within easy and comfortable reach. This applies to both through 
and suburban passenger traffic. 

This report does not go into details of the roadways and stations, either trunk or intra- 
mural. Routes are suggested which seem to be the natural and logical ones. The expert en- 
gineers wiU find the best solutions of the constructive and mechanical problems as they arise. 
But all citizens are interested to see that the best and most comprehensive general schemes shall 
be adopted, and that in carrying out of any one of them, every detail shall be designed and exe- 
cuted with regard to its effect on the senses as well as on the basis of mere mechanical or con- 
structive excellence. A million Chicago people who habitually use railway facilities will possess 
a higher average of good citizenship when the irritation of nerves is reduced to the minimum, 
and within a few years most of the waking hours of a million Americans will be spent in the 
business center of Chicago, where unpleasant sights and sounds should be abolished. The com- 
munity will get far more out of its million workers when their nerves cease to be wracked by 
irritating conditions. 

Again, the noises of surface and elevated road cars is often excruciating. It is not denied 
that this evil can be largely mitigated. These conditions actually cause misery to a large ma- 
jority of people who are subjected to the constant strain, and in addition they undoubtedly cause 
a heavy aggregate loss of money to the business community. For the sake of the state, the citizen 
should be at his best, and it is the business of the state to maintain conditions conducive to his 
bodily welfare. Noises, ugly sights, ill smells, as well as dirty streets and workshops or offices, 
tend to lower average efficiency. It does not pay the state to allow them to continue. Moreover, 







LXXX. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF CITY CENTER, SHOWING THE PROPOSED ARRANGEMENT OF RAILROAD 
PASSENGER STATIONS, THE COMPLETE TRACTION SYSTEM, INXLUDING R.\PID TRANSIT, SUBWAY, AND ELEVATED 

RO.\DS, .\XD THE CIRCUIT SUBWAY LIN^E. 

The last is designed, — (A) To connect all railroad stations with one another. (B) To connect passengers from all points of 

the city within and without the center with the railroad stations by transfer from the subway line proposed in the .\rnold 

Report. (C) To supplement by transfer the interchange of passengers from traction lines going through the center from 

the North, South, or West to any point in the city. 



76 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



citizens have pride in and loyalty to a city that is quiet, clean, and generally beautiful. It 

is not believed that "business" demands that our present annoying conditions be continued. 

In a state of good order all business must be done better and more profitably. With things as 

they should be, every business man in Chicago would make more money than he does now. 

In regard to the mail service 
of Chicago this report can have 
little to say. Only expert public 
officials trained in handling the 
mails are capable of discussing it; 
and apart from the pneumatic tube 
or other circulatory system it does 
not affect our special problem. From 
motives of economy the Federal 
Government has incorporated post- 
offices in the same buildings with 
United States courts and other pub- 
lic offices. The time has come for 
a change in this respect, and it is 
to be hoped that such a building or 
buildings as this service will need in 
order to do its great and fast-grow- 
ing business will be located where 
needed for post-office purposes, and 
be designed as to subserve these 
special functions. The Federal Gov- 
ernment should work out a complete 
scheme for handling the mail matter 
of Chicago. The location of the 
central post-office and substations 
should be determined with a view to 
economical reception and distribu- 
tion, all having reference to one 
another, to the railway mail stations 
in the city and suburbs, and, as 
before stated, to the general system 
of railway circuits. If it be pos- 
sible to determine the future route 
of overhead, surface, and elevated 
street-car systems, they should be 

brought into the consideration of the Chicago mail service scheme. Strict economy and quick 

collections and delivery are all involved in this study. 

The general trend of improvement is in the direction of central plants for heating, lighting, 

and power, because such plants are found to do the work more economically than separate 
stations. The individual buildings would, in such a case, cost less initially by leaving out much 




LXXXI. CHICAGO. RAILROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND PROPERTIES 
IN THE CENTER OF CITY AND THE E.XISTING RADIAL ARTERIES 



TRANSPORTATION 



77 



of the mechanical work now installed; and also they would make saving by greater cleanliness, 
due to improved atmospheric conditions. For it stands to reason that the abolition of a large 
majority of the smokestacks of the do\\Ti-town district would improve the air we breathe, and 
relieve us of much of the cost of cleaning buildings, inside and out, and of protecting goods. 

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LXXXII. CHICAGO. DI.^GRAM OF GENERAL SCHEME OF STREET CIRCULATION AND PARKS IN RELATION TO 

THE AKEAS COVERED BY IN^DCSTRIES AND MANUFACTURES (RED). THE CENTER OF INDUSTRIES IS INT5ICATED 

BY A ST.\R. R.\ILRO.\D PROPERTIES .\XD LINES IN BLUE. 



The embellishment of stations and station grounds of railroads first began in this country 
on the Boston and Albany and the Pennsylvania roads. It is now a feature all over the country; 
it adds immensely to the pleasure and comfort of travel, and especially of suburban travel. So 
strong is this attraction that many an owner of a large subdivision in the suburbs not only 
recognizes it, but he puts into practice at and near the station all the arts of landscaping at his 
command. In a very few places especial pains have been taken to plant for winter effect. 



78 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

as well as for effects depending on full foliage and blossoming shrubs. New winter effects 
should be studied in the parks, boulevards, playgrounds, and for all stations. It generally calls 
for expenditure of thought; but very little, if any, extra expenditure of money is involved in pro- 
curing charming results. 

As a rule, the general aspect of our suburban stations is not pleasant. They should be 
bright, cheery, and inviting in a high degree. More study, not more money, is needed for this 
work. Let the architectural schools and societies take up this topic ; it demands artistic imag- 
ination as well as skill. Let the man who undertakes this problem think of the hundreds or even 
thousands of people who must habitually use the given station, and let him do his utmost to bring 
into being for these people something that shall be a joy to them. A delightful station con- 
duces to cheerfulness as a man goes to work and as he comes home, while a shabby or neglected 
station produces the opposite effect. 

The problems of transportation have been viewed entirely from the standpoint of the para- 
mount interests of Chicago as a commercial city. It has been assumed that what is for the great- 
est advantage to the city as a whole, will also be of the greatest benefit to the transportation lines 
both collectively and individually. Just as the realization of other portions of the plan call for 
harmonious and united action on the part of civic authorities, so the carrying out of the recom- 
mendations in respect to transportation will necessitate unity of action on the part of the mana- 
gers of transportation facilities. Each must yield in some particulars in order to bring about 
the great end sought; but whatever concessions may be called for, they will be found insignifi- 
cant when compared with the great gain which will result to the transportation systems themselves 
from creating here in the central metropolis of the United States a complete system of hand- 
ling both freight and passenger traffic so as to promote the convenience of the people, and to 
enhance the commerce of the city of Chicago. 



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LXXXIV. CHICAGO. THE CENTER OF THE CITY LOOKING WEST. SHOWING GRANT PARK. THE HARBOR, 

AND THE CIVIC CENTER. 



CHAPTER VI 



NATURAL FEATURES OF CHICAGO: NECESSITY FOR COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT OF THE 
STREET SYSTEM: STREETS WITHIN THE CITY: THE RESIDENCE STREET, THE AVENUE, 
AND THE BOULEVARD: STREET ARCHITECTURE: THE STREETS OF CHICAGO: PROPOSED 
NEW CIRCUITS 

HICAGO has two dominant natural features: the expanse of 
*^ Lake Michigan, which stretches, unbroken by islands or penin- 
sulas, to the horizon; and a corresponding area of land ex- 
tending north, west, and south without hills or any marked 
elevation. These two features, each immeasurable by the senses, 
give the scale. Whatever man undertakes here should be 
either actually or seemingly without limit. Great thorough- 
fares may lead from the water back into the country inter- 
minably; broad boulevards may skirt the Lake front, or sweep 
through the city; but their beginnings on the north, on the 
south, or on the west must of necessity be points that move along determined lines with 
the growth of population. Other harbors have channels winding among islands or around 
jutting promontories until the landlocked basin is reached ; but Chicago must throw out into the 

79 




8o PLAN OF CHICAGO 

open water her long arms of piled-up rock in order to gather in safety the storm-tossed vessels. 
Other cities may climb hills and build around them, crowning the elevations with some dominating 
structure ; but the people of Chicago must ever recognize the fact that their city is without bounds 
or limits. Elsewhere, indeed, man and his works may be taken as the measure ; but here the city 
appears as that portion of illimitable space now occupied by a population capable of indefinite 
expansion. 

Whatever may be the forms which the treatment of the city shall take, therefore, the effects 
must of necessity be obtained by repetition of the unit. If the characteristics set forth suggest 
monotony, nevertheless such are the limitations which nature has imposed ; and unless the prob- 
lem is faced squarely no treatment proposed will seem adequate or will prove lastingly satis- 
factory. On the other hand, the opportunity now exists to create out of these very conditions 
a city which shall grow into both convenience and order, and shall possess all the means of 
making its citizens prosperous and contented. 

It is in the grouping of buildings united by a common purpose — whether administrative, 
educational, or commercial — that one must find an adequate method of treatment; or again, 
in far-stretching lines of lagoons, inviting the multitudes to seek recreation along the endless 
miles of water front; or in broad avenues where the vista seemingly terminates with a tower by 
day, or in the converging lines of lights by night, in each case the mind recognizing that there is 
still space beyond. Always there must be the feeling of those broad surfaces of water reflecting 
the clouds of heaven; always the sense of breadth and freedom which are the very spirit of the 
prairies. 

At no period in its history has the city looked far enough ahead. The mistakes of the past 
should be warnings for the future. There can be no reasonable fear lest any plans that may be 
adopted shall prove too broad and comprehensive. That idea may be dismissed as unworthy 
a moment's consideration. Rather let it be understood that the broadest plans which the city 
can be brought to adopt to-day must prove inadequate and limited before the end of the next 
quarter of a century. The mind of man, at least as expressed in works he actually undertakes, 
finds itself unable to rise to the full comprehension of the needs of a city growing at the rate now 
assured for Chicago. Therefore, no one should hesitate to commit himself to the largest and 
most comprehensive undertaking; because before any particular plan can be carried out, a still 
larger conception will begin to dawn, and even greater necessities will develop. 

The two prime considerations for every large city are, first, adequate means of circulation; 
and second, a sufficient park area to insure good health and good order. In those portions 
of the city where congestion has brought about hindrances to traffic and consequent waste, new 
streets must be created at whatever present cost. Chicago has now reached that point in its 
growth when the congestion within the city demands new and enlarged channels of circulation, 
in order to accommodate the increasing throngs that choke the narrow and inadequate thor- 
oughfares. There is need, also, for an orderly arrangement of public and semi-public build- 
ings, and for proper approaches to such structures, to express the power and dignity of the city. 
One thinks of Paris, not as a place of so many millions of people, but as the beautiful capital, in 
which the artistic sense of the French people has found fullest expression. London impresses 
one, not so much on account of its size, but because of those monuments which the genius of the 
Anglo-Saxon race has reared to mark great events and to commemorate great names in the 
progress of civilization. In Berlin, in Vienna, and in every great city of Europe it is the plan of 




















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LXXXV. CHICAGO. PLAN OF A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF STREET CIRCULATION AND SYSTEM OF PAR: 

RELATED ON 



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LXXXVI. CHICAGO. PLAN OF THE STREET AN lni 



Proposed additional arteries and street widenings (orange); the present park system (green); the proposed 
of those already existing, and around the center of the city they serve to en 



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OULEVARD SYSTEM PRESENT AMD PROPOSED. 

' parks and playgrounds (hatched green). The proposed diagonal arteries are in every instance extensions 
in conjunction with rectangular streets, the proposed circuit boulevards. 




LXXXVII. CHICAGO. VIEW LOOKING WEST OVER THE CITY, SHOWING THE K ( 

Painted for the Commerci I 







T1SED CIVIC CENTER, THE GRAND A3aS, GRANT PARK, AND THE HARBOR 
ub by Jules Guerin. 



STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 8i 

the city, the character of its monuments, the impressive location of its public buildings, the pic- 
turesqueness of its thoroughfares, the development of its parks and gardens, or the treatment 
ot Its water front that give the character and charm which create individuality and interest. 

In all growing cities it has 



been necessary, as it is now neces- 
sary in Chicago, to break through 
the conditions imposed by the 
lack of an adequate and compre- 
hensive plan at the beginning, 
and to create, at large expense, 
those thoroughfares and boule- 
vards and public squares which 
the increasing demands of popu- 
lation and the larger require- 
ments of civic life require. The 
longer the beginning has been 
postponed the harder has been 
the task and the greater the ex- 
pense; but whatever the labor 
and however large the cost, the re- 
sult has always been found more 
than compensation for the outlay. 
And so it will be with Chicago. 
Every year of postponement will 
deprive its citizens of advantages 
they might have enjoyed had 
they carried out improvements 
the necessities of which have 
been universally acknowledged. 

People flock to those cities 
where conditions of work are 
good, where means of recreation 
abound, and where there are 
attractions for the senses and the 
intellect. Persons of wealth and 
refinement seek such cities as 
their abiding-places; and those 
who have accumulated wealth in 
a city bent on improvement re- 
main there. Moreover, there is 

no stronger appeal made to the 

American citizen of to-day than comes from the call of one's native or adopted city to enter upon 
the service of creating better surroundings not only for one's self, but for all those who musfof 
necessity earn their bread in the sweat of their brows. Nor is the call of posterity to be denied 




^ ; ;x!,^ CHICAGO. MAP SHOWING THE SUCCESSIVE CITY LIMITS AND 

A LINE TRACED FROM THE SITE OF FORT DEARBORN THROUGH THE 

PRESENT CENTER OF POPULATION. REPRESENTING THE GEnS TEN 

DENCY OF GROWTH. 



82 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



To love and render service to one's city, to have a part in its advancement, to seek to better its 
conditions and to promote its highest interests, — these are both the duty and the privilege of 
the patriot of peace. 

The thoroughfares of a city may be divided into three classes: the street, by which is meant 





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LXXXIX. CHICAGO. DIAGRAM OF GENERAL SCHEME OF STREET CIRCULATION AND PARKS IN RELATION TO 

THE POPULATION. 

The various densities of population, ranging from o to 25 persons per acre to 250 to 300 per acre are indicated by differ- 

erent densities of red color. The center of population is indicated by a star. Railroads are shown in blue. 

the general type of artery; the avenue, on which tides of traffic and travel surge back and forth; 
and the boulevard, designed primarily as a combination of park and driveway. The first con- 
sideration for all thoroughfares is cleanliness, which is the result of a good roadbed kept in thor- 
ough repair, and unremitting care on the part of the city cleaning department. In the con- 
gested retail district the desirable street width is from 80 to 100 feet, about equally divided 



STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 



83 



between sidewalks and roadway. Here the pavement should be smooth and noiseless; there 
should be frequent islands of safety for the -pedestrian crossing from side to side, and occasional 
subway crossings; and the lighting, the signs, and every accessory of the street should be arranged 
with regard to the dictates of good taste. For streets carrying heavy tonnage a width of from 



Congress Street 




Lake Shore 
rive 



XC. CHICAGO. THEORETIC.\L DIAGRAM OF STREET CIRCULATION, SHOWING EXISTING 

LIKES OF TR.AVEL (BLACK), AND PROPOSED SUPPLEMENTARY LINES (ORANGE). 
Circulation from north to south and east to west is already established by the rectilinear system 
of streets. There is need of additional facilities to be provided by street widenings and new 
arteries. Circulation towards the center is partially established, but the arteries need extending 
and developing, and circulation across the city from the northwest to the south and east and 
from the southwest to the north is lacking. It is proposed to remedy this lack by extending 
existing diagonal streets. 

70 to 90 feet is desirable, with a roadway width of a little more than one-half the entire space, 
and here the pavements should be of the most enduring character, regardless of noise.' 

On residence streets the area devoted to pavement may well be lessened to from 20 to 36 
feet, according to the amount of traffic, in order that greater area may be obtained for trees and 
grass plots. This is highly desirable where, as in some sections is inevitable, houses are crowded 

' The report to the Street Pa\nng Committee of the Commercial Club on the street paving problem of Chicago, by John W. 
Alvord, C. E., and an opinion by John S. Miller, Esq., on maintenance and repair of Chicago streets (1904) is at once so comprehen- 
sive and so compact a document that it is sufficient simply to call attention to it. After discussing tendencies in this country and 
Europe, Mr. Alvord reaches this conclusion: "Everywhere the main result is the same. So soon as wealth and population increase 
to the point where luxury and comfort can demand it, the economical and more durable pavements of stone or granite on heavily trav- 
eled streets give way to pavement of shorter life and higher maintenance cost, but of immensely greater comfort to the public in the 
cessation of noise, smoothness for traffic, and ease with which they may be kept in condition." 



84 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

together or apartment buildings abound, so that the smaller children may have playgrounds 
close at hand, and restful shade may prevail. A well-kept grass plot in front of the house induces 
habits of neatness and comfort within; and cool shade brings people from cellars and dark rooms 
out into the light, thus contributing to good order and a higher morality. 

The greatest disfigurement of the residence street is found in the varied assortment of poles 
which crowd out the trees along the space between curb and sidewalk. There are trolley-poles, 
electric lighting poles, poles for telephone wires, and poles for police and fire-alarm purposes. 
The natural development of the city will relegate the greater portion of such service into con- 
duits controlled by the municipality and occupied in common by the city and the various public 
service corporations. So fast as streets are cleared from these obstructions, the municipal- 
ity should take over the planting and maintenance of all trees in street spaces; so that the plant- 
ing may be effective and attractive throughout the entire way. The present method of leaving 
such work to individuals necessarily results in a ragged appearance of the street, and also fails 
to provide that diversity in variety of trees which gives beauty and individuality to the thoroughfare. 

The avenue or traffic street should be of sufficient width to draw to itself the streams of 
traffic passing from one point in a city to distant points. Provision should here be made not 
only for vehicular traffic, but also for street car lines; and the two currents may well be sepa- 
rated, so as to avoid interference with each other. This end may be obtained as in Paris by 
a road lined with trees, or there may be subdivision into various roadways, of which one is domi- 
nant. These thoroughfares, when conforming to the rectilinear street system, should be 
developed at intervals sufficiently frequent to accommodate the traffic that naturally would be 
drained into them from the narrower parallel streets and from the intersecting streets. In order, 
however, to care for the traffic which flows from northeast to southwest, and from northwest 
to southeast, and vice versa, diagonal avenues become a necessity, in order to save time and 
consequent expense. 

Few cities have been laid out with sufficient foresight to provide for such diagonals. It 
has usually happened that at first a small city area has been developed, in which the need of 
diagonal thoroughfares was not felt; and then as the city expanded subdivision after subdi- 
vision has been added, wherein the original street system has been followed, with no care or 
thought for the increased traffic which growth begets. The one idea of those who make new 
subdivisions is to secure the utmost space to sell immediately, leaving the future to take care 
of itself. Hence it happens that, as a rule, when diagonal streets become of prime necessity they 
must be created at large expense, and with great temporary inconvenience. Yet whatever the 
expense, such thoroughfares must be opened; and the city itself is the gainer in each instance, 
not alone by the saving of time, but also in the increased valuations for taxation which such 
improvements inevitably bring about. Fortunately for Chicago a considerable number of diag- 
onals already exist, and the large part which they play in promoting circulation offers the best 
argument for their extension and completion. Blue Island and Milwaukee avenues, the happy 
survivals of old country roads, now carry great streams of traffic, while Ogden and Archer 
avenues and other lesser diagonals are of large utility as time-savers. 

The third class of thoroughfares are the boulevards properly so called; the streets from 
which all heavier traffic is excluded; the streets lined with commodious and even fine dwellings; 
the streets where grass and shrubs and trees assert themselves, and where there may well be con- 
tinuous playgrounds for the children of the neighborhood, such as many Chicago boulevards now 




XCI. CHICAGO. EXISTING AND (IN RED) PROPOSED DIAGONAL .\RTERIES. 



86 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



provide. If in certain sections buildings for light manufactures abut upon these thoroughfares, 
the working people will then enjoy a maximum of fresh air and light; and so will work 

with greatest effectiveness. The 
boulevard also affords appro- 
priate sites for statues and foun- 
tains, and all other forms of 
adornment pleasing to the eye, 
making attractive the city. The 
smaller parks may well be ad- 
jacent to the boulevards, or may 
be expansions of them, thus 
providing for larger playgrounds, 
for places of assembly, and for 
displays of plants and flowers, 
and rare and beautiful trees, 
which appeal to the almost 
universal love of nature. The 
principle governing the group- 
ing of boulevards and avenues 
is the establishment of through 
connection, so that one thor- 
oughfare shall lead into another, 
and that circulation shall be 




XCn. PARIS. THE AVENUE DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE, LOOKING TOWARDS 
THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE. 




everywhere promoted but never 
impeded. 

Along the curved avenues 
and the diagonals the archi- 
tectural design should avoid the 
building up of the thoroughfare 
structure by structure, each one 
following the whim of its owner 
or the struggle for novelty on 
the part of its architect. With- 
out attempting to secure for- 
mality, or to insist on uniformity 
of design on a large scale, there 
should be a constant display of 
teamwork, so to speak, on the 
part of the architects. The 
former days when each archi- 
tect strove to build his cornice 
higher or more elaborate than the adjoining cornice are giving place, happily, to the saner 
idea of accepting existing conditions when a reasonable line has been established. There is as 



PARIS. THE TUILERIES GARDENS, AND CHAMPS ELYSEES BE- 
YOND, FORMING THE MAIN AXIS OF THE CITY. 



STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 



87 




much reason why facades should live together in harmony as there is for peace among neighbors. 
In the case of open spaces, effectiveness of architectural design is to be obtained only by a 
large unity in the entire compo- 
sition. The harmonious treat- 
ment of the buildings facing the 
circle opposite the railway sta- 
tion in Rome and on the Place 
Vendome in Paris, and the plan 
adopted for the plaza in front 
of the Union Station at Wash- 
ington, all prove that an impos- 
ing effect can be produced by 
a unified and grandly simple de- 
sign. In Paris when attempt 
was made to alter some of the 
houses in the Place Vendome, 
the owners were forbidden to 
do so, because the proposed 
alterations would have spoiled 
the architectural symmetry of 
that circle. 

Chicago, being a compara- 
tively new city, escapes one 
difficulty experienced in the re-formation of cities of the Old World ; here there are no buildings 

possessing either historical or pic- 
turesque value which must be sacri- 
ficed in order to carry out the plans 
necessary to provide circulation for 
a growing metropolis. The absence 
of monumental structures, however, 
imposes other obligations on the city 
planner. All the boulevards of Paris 
were established on the models of the 
boulevards of Louis XIV., with two 
lines of trees bordering the driveways, 
and lines of houses on each side of the 
street, so that the mass of verdure 
almost entirely obscures the view of 
the fafades. In the new streets the 
houses are to have a different system 
of alignment, so as to form a broken 
line which will admit of alternate 
masses of masonry, and masses of green. In this manner the boulevards will gain in artistic 
effect; while at the same time the line of the facades will be lengthened, thereby making the 



XCIV, PARIS THE CH.\MPS ELYSEES, FROM THE PLACE DE LA 
CONCORDE, SHOWING THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE IN VISTA. 




PARIS. VIEW FROM THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE ALONG 
THE AVENUE DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



88 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

interior of the dwellings more healthful and agreeable. Much the same effect is produced in 
many Boston and some Washington apartment buildings, which are constructed on three sides 
of a court, leaving a mass of green open to the street. 

In laying out new thoroughfares or treating old ones it must be remembered that with 
respect to traffic streets the increase in population is constantly making larger demands for 
width, and that on residence streets the city should not be burdened unnecessarily with the cost 
of street construction and maintenance. Moreover, there is great economy in the distinct sep- 
aration of residence streets from traffic streets. Whenever a street railway seizes upon a 
residence street of ordinary size, that street immediately begins to undergo transformation into 
a business street; and this change while working its slow way causes depreciation in land values 
which, save on favorably located corners, amounts to virtual confiscation. With good planning 
these ruinous transformations become unnecessary, and the purchase of a home then becomes a 
stable investment and not a gambling hazard. Again, in every country experience has proved 
that the clear and even remorseless cutting of main lines through the district to be developed, 
and the division of great blocks into traffic arteries and service streets is the soundest economy, 
as well as the most effective means of reaching the sought-for end. 

The second form of traffic interruption, arising from the intersection of lines of movement, 
is complicated by reason of the fact that here the pedestrian movement, as well as the vehicular 
movement, must be taken into consideration. There are times when men gather in the streets 
for patriotic purposes, as on the Fourth of July and Decoration Day; or because of an eager 
desire to learn the news of great events, like election results. The right of the people to assem- 
ble for discussion is fundamental. All these requirements must be met by the creation of open 
spaces, which appropriately may be adorned by the statues of men of achievement, or may be 
ornamented with fountains and memorials of various kinds. These spaces for assembly and 
for embellishment should be arranged so as to allow traffic to flow unvexing and unvexed. 
Nothing could be more of a makeshift than the arbitrary regulations of the police in many of our 
cities, where long detours are imposed on the wayfarer and vehicle alike, in order to diminish 
that congestion which it is the task of the city planner to prevent. Yet in no city in the world 
has this intricate and perplexing problem been completely solved. 

It is charged against the French system of "star-places" that they invite congestion by con- 
centrating traffic; and doubtless they are open to this accusation when placed on great traffic 
thoroughfares, unless pains are taken to insist on a movement similar to that of a whirlpool, so 
that each entering vehicle shall be required to move around the circumference until its particu- 
lar street shall be reached. The solution of a gentle junction of two lines in a common line for 
a certain distance, like that of a railway, has advantages which the city planner will not over- 
look. Whatever the form taken in a particular instance, the angles in the lots produced by 
the junction should be studied in order that the open space may not seem to be unfinished, and 
also that the architect may not be compelled to utilize sharp points unfitted for architectural 
treatment. 

It should be borne in mind that directness is not the only consideration. Traffic wagons 
when loaded naturally seek the shortest course, but the great majority of vehicles and of pedes- 
trians as well are lured out of the direct line to streets made attractive by the shops, the trees, 
or other embellishments. Often it happens that unattractive streets, in spite of being 
shorter, are quite deserted because they are spotted with vacant sites, ugly buildings, and dreary 



STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 



89 



spaces. Beauty allures while ugliness repels in city architecture as in everything else. More- 
over, every consideration which aiiects the planning of a city as a whole is truly architecture, and 
wherever there is evidence of foresight and the relation of one part to another, there the mind 
finds the highest satisfaction. Paris is the international capital because in its planning the 
universal mind recognizes that complete articulation which satifies the craving for good order 
and symmetry in every part. 

If Chicago were to be relocated to-day, it would still be placed at the spot where it now is; 
and if the streets were again to be mapped, the same general system would be adopted, because 



■:v^. 




SYSTEM OF TRAFFIC CIRCULATION PROPOSED BY M. HENARD FOR PUBLIC PLACES. 
A continuous gyratory movement reduces conflict of currents to the minimum. 



\ 



the present rectilinear street system best comports with the line of the Lake front which nature 
has unalterably fixed. The rectilinear system certainly accords with the ideas of rightness 
inherent in the human mind; and also it involves a minimum waste of ground space. More- 
over, the River, for the most part, allows the use of the right-angled system without playing 
havoc with the orderly arrangement of the streets. It is only when and as the city increases in 
population that diagonals become necessary in order to save considerable amounts of time and 
to prevent congestion by dividing and segregating the traffic. Thus it happens that no rectilinear 
city is perfect without the diagonal streets; and conversely, having the rectilinear system, the 
creation of diagonals produces the greatest convenience. 

Now, while it happens that the planning of a new city imposes straightness as a duty, and 



go 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 





fer. 


^»^^vy^ '^^^^^L "'^■^^ i/^^. 


V 


V- ^ -^ -'^n. J""^ 



XCVII. THEORETICAL DIAGRAM OF THE STREETS OF PARIS. 



diagonals as a necessity, it is equally true that a virtue should be made of these hard-and-fast 
conditions. There is a true glory in mere length, in vistas longer than the eye can reach, in 
roads of arrow-like purpose that speed unswerving in their flight; and when and where the 

opportunity of level ground permits, 
this glory should be sought after. Older 
cities may indeed bend and curve their 
new streets to preserve what is pictur- 
esque or historic; but new cities, built 
on level country, should see to it that 
as subdivisions are platted, the streets 
and avenues shall be adequate to bear 
the traffic which will come to them 
from the city itself, and that such thor- 
oughfares shall form an integral part 
of the entire system of circulation. 

At the same time the elliptical 
avenue may be used to introduce va- 
riety, and especially to serve as a link 
to connect parks. Chicago had no 
encircling fortifications to turn into 
boulevards such as those which beau- 
tify and distinguish the cities of Vienna, Brussels, Rouen, Milan, and especially Paris; but such 
avenues may well be created in order to relieve the monotony of the straight streets. One such 
great parkway is shown on the plans, 
and it requires but a glance to recog- 
nize the effectiveness of such a thor- 
oughfare. 

Having discussed the general prin- 
ciples applicable to the arrangement 
and development of streets within a 
city, we come to the specific problem. 
The city of Chicago now extends for 
about twenty-six miles along the Lake 
front, and has a width of not more than 
seven miles. It is apparent that as 
population increases, the entire ter- 
ritory between the present west- 
ern boundaries and the Des Plaines 
River will become thickly settled, and 
that as this occupation proceeds the 
pressure of the increased numbers to 
reach the business district and the Lake front will work serious congestion, unless additional 
thoroughfares shall be created in order to add to transit facilities inadequate even at the present 
time. Obviously it is idle to expect those who plat subdivisions for the mere purpose of selling land 




XCVIII. THEORETICAL DIAGRAM OF THE STREETS OF MOS- 
COW. 



STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 



91 



the enlarged 
territory ex- 



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C/iMhl/rmburf O.^u^ * U-H, 




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Bnei^lin 



XCIX. THEORETICAL DIAGRAM OF THE STREETS OF BERLIN. 



to make provision for a circulatory system sufficiently comprehensive to meet the requirements of a 
growing city. That task belongs to the city itself, and the only way in which it can be accom- 
plished is by the preparation and adoption of a plan for platting all those lands adjacent to 
the city which are reasonably certain 
to be included within 
boundaries. The entire 
tending westward to the Des Plaines 
should be laid out to meet future re- 
quirements, with the requisite area 
for residences, as well as wide thor- 
oughfares for traffic, well-planned di- 
agonals to gather and distribute the 
travel, and adequate park spaces. As 
the architects of Louis XIV. laid out 
streets and avenues of Paris far in 
advance of occupation, and as the 
United States government adopted a 
plan for the development of the entire 
District of Columbia in accord with 
the original L'Enfant plan, so the 
authorities of Chicago should see to it 

that when and as new subdivisions are platted in any portion of Cook County not now included 
within the city boundaries, the thoroughfares in those subdivisions shall be fitted to care for the 

traffic that will be imposed upon them 
by reason of their location in relation 
to the business district. 

The functions of the diagonals and 
circuits proposed for the area imping- 
ing upon the business district are three 
in number: first, to allow traffic seek- 
ing the center to reach its destination 
expeditiously; secondly, to divert from 
the center traffic not having its objec- 
tive point within the central area; and, 
thirdly, to afford direct passage through 
the center in those cases where such 
crossing is necessary. 

The matter of widening avenues 

by means of regulating the frontage 

is largely one of conservation. That 

is to say, along streets where residences 

predominate the thoroughfare should be widened by acquiring all the property to the line of the 

buildings, so that as the street changes its character from a residence to a business thoroughfare 

it shall not be narrowed at the very time when greater width is desirable. In short, the city should 




THEOKETIC.\L DIAGRAM OF THE STREETS OF LOXDON. 



92 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 




CHICAGO. VIEW OF GRAND BOULEVARD. 



acquire and own the front yards, just as the Federal government ow^ns the space betv^reen houses 
and sidewalks in Washington. For example, Chicago Avenue gives one the impression of a 

splendid boulevard, owing to the 
fact that the buildings are set 
well back from the street; but 
eventually the avenue will be 
narrowed to loo feet, unless the 
yard spaces shall be acquired, 
as acquired they can be at 
small expense, so long as the 
purpose is to keep the space 
open. 
^i'.t, :.- -ii -jj »-'r\^^ ^^^^^JP^I!^^^'- "% '0'^X "^^ 1 ^^^ diagonals are the most 

Ij' j ' I Hi 11 lip "ijl f i. ' useful and necessary arteries. 

JL- I ^R I I Those belonging to the first 

circuit passing around the busi- 
ness center are as follows: 

Chicago Avenue and Lin- 
coln Park Boulevard to Milwau- 
kee Avenue and Canal Street, 
crossing the river north of the 
junction of its three branches; 
From the intersection of 
Washington and Canal streets running to Halsted and Congress streets; 

From Halsted and Congress streets to Twelfth and Canal streets, and from the latter inter- 
section across the river at Six- 
teenth Street to Archer Avenue 
at State Street and Cottage 
Grove Avenue at Twenty-sec- 
ond Street. 

For the most part, these 
diagonals would run through 
wholesale and manufacturing 
districts, passing near some 
of the railroad freight yards 
and intercepting the traffic to 
the city from the other out- 
lying freight yards. This traf- 
fic, once having reached the 
circuit, would make use of it 
as a means of getting around 
the congested district. 

As the city increases in population, its retail and business district necessarily expands also, 
the rise in values of the real estate forcing the wholesale interests farther away from the center. 




CII. CHICAGO. VIEW OF THE LAKE SHORE DRIVE. 



STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 



93 



Traffic on these circuit arteries would thus change in character, and they might eventually be 
made boulevards to carry traffic of every description except that of heavy teaming. The ar- 
gument for the circuit as described is equally strong when considered with regard to any form of 




■^.i, 



s-'-?-?--— r:, 




:SB.- 




r 



cm. CHICAGO. PLAN OF THE CITY, SHOWING THE GENERAL SYSTEM OF BOULEVARDS AND PARKS EXISTING 

AND PROPOSED. 

The boulevards are planned to form a continuous system of circulation; the parks are related closely to the boulevard 

system, and are located, wherever possible, in connection with them. 

traffic. It is based on a general e.xperience in other cities, which proves that there is a gradual 
evolution from mere utility to a service of a hghter and more agreeable character. For exam- 
ple, the Square of the Innocents in Paris, once a cloistered cemetery, is now a playground, and 
serves as a breathing space for the densely populated neighborhood. Some such evolution will 
come in the case of the present freight yards lying along the river, which ultimately will be 



94 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



abandoned for freight purposes, just as the fortifications of Paris and Vienna have been trans- 
formed from absolute utility to useful purposes of an entirely different nature. 

When the freight yards shall 
be abandoned as industrial sites 
a large tract of territory will 
be available for public pur- 
poses, and the growing pop- 
ulation might easily demand 
the space for recreation; and 
the fact that the available space 
lies along the river will be of 
double advantage, since river 
banks furnish an agreeable va- 
riety when they extend through- 
out a city. 

In addition to the diagonals 

shown on the diagram are the 

existing roads running beside 

the great railway rights-of-way. 

CHICAGO. VIEW OF DREXEL BOULEVARD. Somc of thcsc already extend 




far out in the country, and also 
penetrate inside the city. All 
of them should be improved, 
and missing links should be 
supplied. When, at perhaps no 
distant day, the railroads enter- 
ing the city come to be oper- 
ated by electricity, no better 
highways can be imagined. 
They should be broadened, or- 
namented, and made to serve 
as great arteries. Outside the 
city limits, and often inside 
them, these highways beside 
the railways penetrate popu- 
lous districts, where they are 
of increasing importance. They 
should be drained, paved, and 
planted in the best manner, and 
it is of first importance that 
there should be no grade crossings of carriageways and railways. This work of improvement 
which is already in progress inside the city should be carried on until every crossing within the 
territory shown on the main diagram or encircling highways shall be eliminated. 




CHICAGO. VIEW OF MICHIGAN AVENTJE, LOOKING NORTH. 



STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 



95 



In time the streets within the business center will be taxed to the utmost on the surface, 
on the overhead tramways, and underneath the present grades. Knowing this, it is important 
to provide means to divert as much as possible the movement of people around the center when 
business or pleasure does not necessitate passing into or through it. The topography of Chi- 
cago is such that this may be accomplished readily. The shore of the Lake bends rapidly away 
toward the northwest north of North Avenue, thus placing the center of population of that 

section so far west that traffic 
can go directly to the South 
Side without passing through 
the business district, if only 
means to this end be provided ; 
and at the same time the 
people of the West Side can 
easily reach the North and 
South Sides, south of the busi- 
ness districts, without passing 
through the center. 

The streets should be ar- 
ranged and improved so as to 
provide for such lines of 
travel. At present, nearly 
every one going from one sec- 
tion of the city lying outside 
of the center to another sec- 
tion outside of the center 
comes into the business dis- 
trict and passes through it 
on his way. This movement 
includes pedestrians, passen- 
gers on the elevated and sur- 
face cars, and wheeled vehi- 
cles; it also includes teams 
and trucks of every descrip- 
tion, including those for fire 
and police services. It is ob- 
vious that direct and well-improved thoroughfares should enable this traffic to pass outside the 
congested center from one section to another. 

The main portion of the proposed grand circuit would extend from a park at the intersection of 
Graceland and West avenues, around to Gage Park, thence on Fifty-fifth Boulevard to Michigan 
Avenue, and thence north to Graceland Avenue at the Lake, a distance of nearly thirty miles. 
This great circuit can be utilized for continuous playgrounds sweeping around the center and 
connecting the dense populations that will inhabit the North and South Sides; and thus it will be 
of inestimable value. To this circuit traffic would come from considerable distances on either 
side of it, then follow its line until reaching a street leading directly to that portion of the city for 




CVI. CHICAGO. INTERSECTION OF THE THREE BRANCHES OF THE 

CHICAGO RIVER. 
Plan suggested to facilitate traffic circulation by means of two additional 
bridges placed as proposed for the north-and-south boulevard at Mich- 
igan Avenue, on a level above the present street, and connected eventually 
with streets to be built on either side of the River, 



96 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

which it is destined. By such a route congested business and manufacturing territories may 
be avoided, and thus it would serve the purpose of many diagonals that otherwise must be 
created. As a continuous park it would furnish breathing space and playgrounds for a very large 
number of people, and become a most popular avenue for pleasure as well as for necessary 
circulation. Moreover, the great circuit seems to be the line most normal to all the great exist- 
ing radials, and thus it would be the most economical method of furnishing quick and easy com- 
munication. Also it expresses in an ideal manner what is aimed at by all inner circuits, which are 
angular because of the prohibitive cost of making them follow a continuous curve; and also 
because a curve for the inner circuits would not develop the necessary articulation with existing 
important rectangular streets. The degree of curvature of this outer circuit parkway insures 
an extremely noble effect along its entire length and makes many picturesque angles with the 
intersecting streets. As a whole, it is intended to be a stately highv/ay, such as does not now 
exist in any city. 

The next circuit inside the grand one now largely exists in the form of the great park boule- 
vards of Michigan Avenue, Grand Boulevard, or Drexel Boulevard to Washington Park, Fifty-fifth 
Street to Gage Park; thence by the West Park boulevards through the West Parks, back by 
Diversey Boulevard to the Lake, and south to Michigan Avenue. Another circuit is on the same 
route as the one last mentioned, except that it does not extend so far to the south as Fifty-fifth 
Street, but goes west to McKinley Park as shown on the diagram. 

A circuit of very great ultimate importance would extend on Michigan Avenue from Chicago 
Avenue to Twenty-second Street; thence on Twenty-second Street to Halsted; on Halsted 
diagonally to the corner of Ashland and Twelfth streets; thence north on Ashland to Union 
Park; from Union Park diagonally to the corner of Chicago Avenue and Halsted, thence east 
on Chicago Avenue to the Lake. This route should be a great thoroughfare, affording every 
facility for the movement of people on foot, in carriages, or in streets cars, and for teams as well. 
It should be very wide and well planted. 

The innermost circuit utilizes Michigan Avenue, Twelfth Street, and Canal Street; thence 
diagonally to Halsted and Congress streets; thence again diagonally to Washington and Canal 
streets; thence on Washington Street to the Lake. This circuit should have an underground 
and an overhead loop for passengers, except that the overhead line should swing over Wabash 
Avenue instead of over Michigan Avenue. 

The following existing east-and-west streets should be widened and much improved : Grace- 
land Avenue, Diversey Boulevard, North Avenue, Indiana Avenue, Chicago Avenue, Washington 
Street, Congress Street extended and very much widened. Twelfth Street should become 
a great viaduct, beginning at grade at Michigan Avenue and extending elevated over to Canal; 
and it should not be less than i8o feet in width as shown on drawings. Sixteenth Street and 
also Twenty-second Street should be widened. It would be wise, also, to widen each of the 
section-limit streets running east and west, and also the half-section streets. 

South Park Avenue (which is the extension of Grand Boulevard) should be carried over 
the Illinois Central right-of-way from Twenty-second Street to Grant Park, over which it should 
pass to that railroad's north freight yards; thence over the yards and the main branch of the 
river, and on until it connects with the Lincoln Park Lake Shore Drive on the North Side. This 
would form a continuous outer boulevard connecting the Lincoln Park and South Park systems 
with the utmost correctness, and in a fine manner. This way would enable people to pass by 




1EF**' 




'^ s. 




"fife 





STREETS WITHIN THE CITY 97 

the business center when they do not desire to enter it, and would be an additional thoroughfare 
to and from the center. 

The cost of this improvement would amount to comparatively little for condemnation of 
private property; the space to be taken would be only that necessary to widen Grand Boule- 
vard to Twenty-second Street, and to carry through the route on the North Side portion. The 
right-of-way over the railroad from Twenty-second Street to Grant Park, and from Grant Park 
to the river should be obtained without cost. 

The Chicago River, which gave to the city its location and fostered its commerce, has become 
a dumping spot and a cesspool; bridges of every possible style and condition span it at irregular 
intervals and at all angles; and year by year riparian owners have been permitted to encroach upon 
its channel until there are to be found as many as four lines of docks, each newer one having been 
built further into the stream. Tunnel-backs have restricted its depth for purposes of navigation. 
The widening proposed by the Sanitary District authorities and the fact that almost all the docks 
are in a dilapidated condition will combine to make changes imperative. The opportunity should 
be seized to plan a comprehensive and adequate development of the river banks, so that the 
commercial facilities shall be extended, while at the same time the aesthetic side of the problem 
shall be worked out. 

Boulevards should extend from the mouth of the river along the North and South branches 
and on both sides, at least from the mouth of the river to North Avenue on the North Branch 
and to Halsted Street on the South Branch. These thoroughfares would be an important factor 
in the relief of traffic congestion down town; they should be raised above the normal traffic 
level in order to afford greater facility of circulation, and to allow warehouses to be constructed 
below the roadway. This upper level would thus connect the points on the river at which the 
street scheme calls for an elevation, as in the case of the north-and-south connecting boulevards, 
the junctions of the three branches of the river, and Twelfth Street. These boulevards apart 
from their practical advantages would become the most delightful route to the Lake. 

We have now considered with some detail the disposition of the streets and avenues sur- 
rounding the intense business center of Chicago. While this outer city area is occupied mainly 
by dwellings, certain streets along which transportation lines pass, come to be lined with shops 
throughout their entire length, so that one passes from the center of affairs into the residence dis- 
trict without noting the transition. As a rule, however, the density and importance of the build- 
ings decrease from the center to the circumference; and in corresponding manner the highways 
of circulation and exchange may diminish in width. It is essential, however, to provide encir- 
cling or belt thoroughfares which act as collectors of traffic, and also as distributors of it ; so as to 
prevent the inextricable congestion which inevitably arises when masses of people gathered along 
converging lines attempt to penetrate the center at a single point. However diffcult it may be 
to provide against such congestion in the case of older cities, a reasonable system of circulation 
in connection with the business center of a comparatively new city like Chicago should be accom- 
plished with comparative ease. The widening of some streets and the construction of needed 
arteries is made less difficult by reason of the fact that the buildings which cover the greater part 
of Chicago's area beyond the business center are not of a permanent character, and in the natural 
order of things they must be replaced by others more substantial. Provision should be made 
now so as to ensure that, as the transformation progresses, sufficient land area shall be left unoc- 
cupied to provide good sanitary' conditions, and attractive streets as well. 



98 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

The three requisites for this outer region, therefore, are: first, convenient means of access to 
the main business center and to the subordinate centers, which are the day's working-places; 
secondly, equally convenient means of access to the water and the fields and forests, where the 
hours of recreation and refreshment are passed; and, thirdly, as much light and air as possible 
for the dwellings and the schools, where the home-keepers are occupied with their daily tasks, 
and where the children are trained, either for weakness or for strength, as physical conditions 
largely determine. 




CVIII. CHICAGO. VIEW OF THE SOUTH SHORE LOOKING SOUTH- 
EAST OVER GRANT PARK. 




ir 




CIX. CHICAGO. THE PROPOSED PLAZA ON MICHIGAN AVENUE. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE HEART OF CHICAGO: OPPORTUNITY FOR CREATING A CONVENIENT AND UNIFIED CITY: 
MICHIGAN AVENUE AS THE BASE OF A GREAT COMPOSITION: THE WIDENING OF H.\LSTED 
STREET: A GROUP PLAN FOR THE FIELD MUSEUM, THE CRERAR LIBRARY, AND THE ART 
INSTITUTE: CONGRESS STREET AS THE MAIN AXIS OF THE CITY: THE CIVIC CENTER 

HE Heart of Chicago is that portion of the city area between 
Halsted Street and the Lake, and between the main river and 
Twelfth Street. Within the next few years these boundaries will be 
enlarged to include Chicago Avenue on the north, Ashland Avenue 
on the west, and Twenty-second Street on the south. The treat- 
ment of this area, having a length of appproximately three miles 
north and south, and a width of four miles from Ashland Avenue 
to the ends of the two great piers planned to extend into the Lake 
at Chicago Avenue and again at Twenty-second Street, involves 
the most serious problems encountered in the plan of the city. 
As the population of Chicago spreads itself over the area between the Lake and the Des 
Plaines River the pressure on the Heart of Chicago must of necessity increase in geometrical 
ratio. The ground, being devoted to business purposes, will become so valuable that the build- 
ings will rise to the height permitted by law. These buildings will be used for ofl&ces by corpora- 
tions whose plants are scattered throughout the wide territory of which Chicago is the metropo- 
lis; for shops and banks; for hotels; for theatres and other places of entertainment; for railroad 
passenger terminals; for churches and public or semi-public structures, all of which will be re- 
sorted to by hundreds of thousands of people who must pass daily into and out of this compara- 
tively small area. 

The main problem to be solved is the disposition of the various streams of traffic, so that 
people may reach expeditiously the places to which their daily vocations call them. This prob- 

99 ; ,., 




loo PLAN OF CHICAGO 

k-m may be postponed, or it may be solved inadequately; but sooner or later, as experience 
teaches, some solution must be found. Postponement multiplies ultimate cost, and meantime 
creates a constantly increasing burden of discomfort and loss of business. True economy, there- 
fore, dictates that the present moment, when already congestion is a menace to the commercial 
progress of the city, shall be seized upon as the proper time to begin a thorough regeneration of 
the street system within the Heart of Chicago. Fortunately, the general lines on which the 
changes should be made are determined by opportunities so obvious that the development of 
a dignified and thoroughly convenient composition would seem to come about quite naturally. 
All that is necessary is to take advantage of existing possibilities by combining the various 
elements into a consistent whole. By so doing a unified city, wherein each portion will have 
organic relation to all other portions, will result. 

In considering the Heart of Chicago as a single composition it is desirable to begin with the 
base line. Obviously this is found in Michigan Avenue, which is already a broad thorough- 
fare, and is now in process of being widened to a width of 130 feet throughout that portion 
which is bordered by Grant Park. At the present time, Michigan Avenue is the main connecting 
thoroughfare between the North and South Sides; but it is much more than this. Ofifice build- 
ings, hotels, clubs, theatres, music-halls, and shops of the first order as to size and architecture 
line the western side of the avenue, the Park opposite their fronts insuring light, air, and an 
agreeable outlook. So desirable has this thoroughfare become that extensions of it to the north 
or the south must enhance the value of the abutting real estate, because of the increased oppor- 
tunities such extensions will create for continuing the building of structures of the highest class. 

Michigan Avenue is probably destined to carry the heaviest movement of any street in the 
world. Any boulevard connection in Michigan Avenue which fails to recognize the basic im- 
portance of the avenue will be a waste of money and energy. Any impairment of the capacity 
of this street at any point along its entire front, any weakening of this foundation, is an error 
of the first magnitude. 

At the present time the northern limit of this foundation of street circulation on the Lake 
front is the water-tower on Chicago Avenue, and the south limit is the intersection of Twelfth 
Street and Michigan Avenue. This avenue or parkway should be made as spacious as possible 
along its entire length. It should be wide enough to provide two broad parallel roadways: one 
to be used by those who wish to visit the shops, hotels, or theatres, and the other for the passage 
of those who do not care to stop on their way through the city. Between these roadways should 
be a broad sidewalk, and the walk next to the buildings also should be very broad. This road- 
way should be made attractive by effective planting. The trees framing the boulevard may 
well be of the clipped variety in order to carry out the architectural effect; and the lamps and 
other accessories should be designed so as to give finish and unity to the composition. 

The limit of width is fixed by the physical conditions of Michigan Avenue between Ran- 
dolph Street and the river. Here the distance between the west side of Michigan Avenue and the 
west line of the Illinois Central property is 246 feet. Michigan Avenue north of Randolph Street 
is now 66 feet wide. The business blocks between Michigan Avenue and Beaubien Court are 130 
feet deep, and Beaubien Court is 50 feet wide; a total of 246 feet. Therefore 246 feet is the limit 
of possible width, and this is recommended as the width of the proposed boulevard connection, 
every foot of which is part of this Lake front parkway — the great base of Chicago's street 
circulation. 



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rJ^prTTT^'^^SS-^ ^^^ °^ ■^^^ COMPLETE SYSTEM OF STREET CIRCULATIOX; R.ULWAY STATIONS- P^RKS BOULEVARD 

OF G^^^tXk^hV-M^^v^vt'.^ fvn"^ RECREATION PIERS, YACHT H.^OR, '..XD PLEASURE™ AT P^S;* TREATMENT 

OF GR.-\XT P.\RK; THE iLAIN AXIS AND THE CIMC CENTER. PRESENTING THE CITY \S \ COMPLETE ORGWTSM TV wmrH 

ALL ITS FUNCTIONS ARE RELATED ON^E TO ANOTHER IN SUCH A MAN-N'ER THAT IT WILL BECOME A UNli 




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I [ Parks pr.opo.5ED- 
p~| Railroad property 

g^ RR STATIONS EXISTIN'G, 
[Ml R-R. -STATrONS PROPOSED- 



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CXI. CHICAGO. PLAN OF THE CENTER OF THE CITY, SHOWING THE PRESENT STREET AND BOl^LEVARD SYSTEM. 
The proposed additional arteries and street widenings (orange); the present parks (green); and proposed new parks and play- 
grounds within present shoreline (hatched green); the present railway properties, "lines, and stations, and the proposed new 
stations arranged on a circuit boulevard (dark blue). 



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CXII. CHICAGO. PROPOSED BOULEV.^D TO CONNECT THE NORTH AND SOUTH SIDES OF THE RIVER- VIEW LOOKING NORTH 

FROM WASHINGTON STREET. 

^ais'edTo'rhrbof.levi'rH fevt'l'"'^.'' ^°'" f <^^='.-^"d-west teaming traffic under it, and both Michigan Avenue and Beaubien Court are 
raised to the boulevard evel. The raised portion throughout its entire length, from Randolph Street to Indiana Street, extends from 
building line to building line. It is approached from the cross streets by inchned roadways or ramps ; these may be changed to the eaS 

side or omitted. 
Painted for the Commercial Club by Jules Guerin. 



THE HEART OF CHICAGO loi 

In a study of this problem several years ago, "along lines that will not only meet the present 
requirements of the city, both as to convenience and beauty, but which for years to come will 
meet the needs of the city," committees of the City Council, the Real Estate Board, the archi- 
tects, the South Park Board, and the Lincoln Park Board, after consultation with the Mayor of 
Chicago and other interested citizens, recommended the condemnation of all of the land lying 
between Michigan Avenue and Beaubien Court from Randolph Street to the river, in order that an 
adequate thoroughfare might be provided. These committees, which contributed very much to 
a proper understanding of the conditions, were convinced of the necessity of taking all of the 
property rather than a strip of it. This parkway should be reserved exclusively for the use of 
pedestrians and lighter vehicles. It is the one great thoroughfare that can be so dedicated, and 
commercial traffic should be e.xcluded from it and amply provided for elsewhere. 

From Twelfth Street to Chicago Avenue the only east-and-west streets crossing Michigan 
Avenue that carry a heavy commercial traffic are the four east-and-west streets immediately 
south of the river, and the four east-and-west streets immediately north of the river. These 
eight east-and-west streets, together with the tracks and sidings of the Chicago and Northwest- 
ern railway on the north bank of the river, are the only points where commercial traffic comes 
into collision with the north-and-south movement on the Lake front parkway. Naturally the 
commercial cross-traffic that flows east and west through these eight streets is particularly dense, 
being created by the railway terminals, docks, and warehouses east of Michigan Avenue, both 
north and south of the river. By actual count on a given day it was found that between the hours 
of 8 and lo o'clock in the morning the pedestrian movement at the crowded crossing at the inter- 
section of Michigan Avenue with Randolph Street was 12,484. In short, 104 people, sixty per 
cent of whom were probably women and children, passed this corner every minute. On the same 
morning it was ascertained that between 7 and 10 o'clock 893 trucks and light vehicles moved 
in the intersection of one of these streets and Michigan Avenue. Confusion and delay attendant 
upon the concentration of such masses are certain to increase as the Illinois Central, the Michi- 
gan Central, and the Wisconsin Central railways improve their terminals, as the warehouses of 
this district are increased, and as more docks or harbors are developed at the mouth of the river. 

By the plan for the connecting boulevard, which would begin its rise at Randolph Street, 
heavy traffic would be diverted into Lake Street and other streets north, making the Randolph 
Street intersection safer for pedestrian movement. The other streets crossing under the park- 
way would be freed almost entirely of cross-traffic, and the loss of time resulting from impeded 
movement would be reduced to the minimum. 

Evidently if this Lake front parkway is to be dedicated solely to the use of the people, with 
commercial traffic excluded, it cannot be carried across these east-and-west streets at the pres- 
ent level of Michigan Avenue, without depressing these east-and-west streets. After an investi- 
gation by engineers all thought of such street depression has been abandoned. Therefore the 
boulevard connection must be elevated from Randolph Street on the south to Indiana Street on 
the north, if collision between two classes of traffic, both of which are better served when kept 
apart, is to be avoided. 

It is not, however, necessary to carry the connecting boulevard very high. The present 
grade of Michigan Avenue at Randolph Street can be raised one foot, or a little more, without 
difficulty, so that from the street level at this point to the level of the boulevard connection one 
block north, at the corner of Lake Street and Michigan Avenue, the total rise would be about 



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CXIII. CHICAGO. PLAN OF MICHIGAN A\ENUE FROM TWELFTH STREET T 
The proposed double roadway is desig;ned to accommodate the immense volume of trafific which will be attracted to the Lake front. The west roadway 
interference from stationary vehicles. The boulevard proposed is raised above the three streets north and south of the River (as shown in illustration No. CV), tl 

traffic-teaming below, 




CXtV. CHICAGO. PROPOSED BOULEVARD AND P. 
View looking west across Grant Park, show 



G B^ A N T 



P A R, K 




inmir 




iE RIVER, ANT) ITS EXTENSION ON PINE STREET TO CHICAGO AVENTJE. 
for shopping traflic and carriages waiting for the crowds attending public functions; the eastern roadway carries traffic through the business section without 
reating an artery free from heavy teaming traffic at its crossings from the North to the South Sides. A double-deck bridge accommodates the north-and-south 
light vehicles above. 




IVAY ON MICHIGAN AVENUE AND PINT! STREET. 
he relation of the park to the boulevard. 



I04 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



eleven feet, with a grade of two and seven-tenths per cent. From Lake Street to South Water 
Street the surface of the boulevard connection would rise only three feet more on a grade of three- 
fourths of one per cent. North of South Water Street the surface would rise very slightly to the 
bridge, from which point it would continue to the nortli practically on a level, until descending 



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CXV. CHICAGO. rROPOSED BOULEVARD ON MICHIGAN AV-ENUE; VIEW LOOKING NORTH FROM A POINT EAST 

OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. ALSO DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPERTY EAST OF BEAUBIEN COURT, IN WHICH A RAII^ 

WAY STATION MIGHT BE INCORPORATED. 



on a gentle grade to Lincoln Park Boulevard, near Indiana Street, or to Ohio Street. The 
grades suggested are less than those existing on Fifth Avenue in New York. 

Not one roadway only, but the whole boulevard connection, 246 feet wide, should rise grad- 
ually from Randolph Street, and every store and building, both on the east side and on the west 
side of the parkway, north as well as south of the river, would naturally open on the level of the 
boulevard, exactly as the shops or hotels open on Michigan Avenue south of Randolph Street. 
Furthermore, every building facing on the boulevard connection would have direct access to 
the lower level under the elevation (except for a portion of one block at each end), so that goods 
could be brought into the buildings conveniently. This lower level, well lighted, ventilated, and 



THE HEART OF CHICAGO 



105 




CXVI. CHICAGO. VIEW OF PINE STREET. 

The Waterworks tower is shown as a marker in the vista of the 

proposed boulevard to connect the North and South Sides. 



protected from weather, would afford ideal conditions for handling commercial traffic. Part 

or all of it could be solidly filled in if the authorities and the property owners deemed this more 

desirable; it would not be necessary 
to have all of the lower level open. 
From this lower level at street inter- 
sections there would be inclined road- 
ways or ramps, giving comfortable 
facilities for pedestrians or carriages 
to reach the parkway. It would not 
be necessary to place these ramps at 
exactly the points where they are 
shown in the design; but they could 
be moved to the east side of the park- 
way if for any reason that side offered 
an advantage; or they could be elim- 
inated if considered unnecessary. 

The proposed bridge has two 
decks. The lower one, being de- 
signed for commercial traffic, would 
provide for the present heavy team- 
ing moving north and south over the 

Rush Street bridge, without interrupting the teaming during the construction of the new 

parkway, as the old bridge could be retained until the completion of the new one. 
The grade on the lower, level 

approach up to the heavy teaming 

deck from the south would be 2^ 

per cent as compared with the pres- 
ent grade of nearly 5 per cent up to 

the present Rush Street bridge, and 

5 per cent up to the present Dearborn 

Street bridge. The advantage of the 

double-deck bridge recommended in 

this plan is set forth in the statement 

of general requirements in the report 

made by the commission of engineers 

to the Board of Local Improvements 

on the proposed north-and-south 

boulevard connection. The engineers 

say: "The bridges over the river may 

be of either the bascule or the vertical 

lift type, and two single bridges may be 

used, one to accommodate boulevard 

traffic, the other for team traffic; or one double-deck bridge may be used, the upper deck to 

accommodate boulevard traffic, the lower deck for team traffic. In the case of two bridges, the 




!?^' 



CXVII. PARIS. 



VIEW OF THE RUE DE LA PAIX AND THE 

COLUMN VENDOME. 



io6 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



present Rush Street bridge may be continued in service during the construction of the new boule- 
vard bridge, and after completion of the latter may be temporarily used as a team traffic bridge. 
Eventually, however, Rush Street bridge will have to be replaced by a new bridge, and during 
the construction of the latter it will be necessary to divert the team traffic to other crossings. 





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n^J. *. 



w*i HI 



CXVm. CHICAGO. MICHIGAN AV-ENtTE, LOOKING TOWARDS THE SOUTH. 

Proposed double roadway running to a plaza at its intersection with Twelfth Street, and a suggestion for buildings to 

surround the place, including rearrangement of the Twelfth Street railway station. 

This will cause some inconvenience to this traffic, which is very heavy. The double-deck bridge 
avoids this difficulty, as it can be completed and put in service without disturbing Rush Street 
bridge; so that all the traffic of that bridge, both team and boulevard traffic, can be at once 
transferred to the new bridge when this is ready." 

In the plan here presented, the surface of the elevated boulevard connection at Lake Street 
would be only ii feet higher than the present Michigan Avenue, and the upper deck of the new 
bridge would be only i6 feet higher than the surface of the present Rush Street bridge, and only 
9j feet higher than the surface of the Jackson Boulevard bridge. Looking south, a pedestrian 
would see before him Grant Park and the improved Michigan Avenue; the view along the river. 



THE HEART OF CHICAGO 



107 



rifli 



both east and west, would offer an interesting picture of the business activities of the city; on the 
north the wide avenue would end at the water-tower, beyond which can be seen the waters of 
Lake Michigan opposite the Lake Shore Drive. Thus the plan presents one of the most mag- 
nificent highways of the world. It seizes and develops the finest opportunity which Chicago 
possesses for this purpose. The people of Chicago, during the past twenty-five years, have ex- 
pended more than $220,000,000 in permanent improvements. This fact proves conclusively 
that the city is bent on increasing its traffic facilities; yet because there has been no compre- 
hensive plan for develop- 
ment of city thoroughfares, 

much of this work must ' 5 

now be done over again. " ' ;. , J 

The proposed connecting 
boulevard is but one de- 
tail in the plan of a great 
city, but it is one of the 
most important. Unless the 
Lake front is dealt with 
as one great thoroughfare, 
there is no excuse for the 
expenditure of a large sum 
of money on a single span 
of it. 

This great improve- 
ment will come because it 
is a part of a plan which 
provides a basis of street 
circulation, and which will 
weld and unify the three 
detached sides of Chicago; 
because it will improve facili- 
ties for commercial traffic, 
and at the same time pre- 
serve for the people the un- 
interrupted use of their 
greatest and most attractive 
highway. 

No less important than 
the widening and extension of Michigan Avenue is the improvement of Halsted Street, often called 
"the king of streets" by reason of its extreme length. This street begins near the Lake, two and 
a half miles north of Lincoln Park, and thence runs directly south through the center of popula- 
tion of Chicago to the southern city limits and beyond them to Chicago Heights, a distance in 
the city of over twenty miles. This street will inevitably be called upon to bear a very heavy 
burden of traffic. One of the longest business streets in the world, it is bound to become also 
one of the most important. The necessity for widening Halsted Street becomes apparent when 




CXIX. CHICAGO. 



SKETCH PLAN OF THE I>rrERSECTION OF MICHIGAN 
AVEXITE AND TWELFTH STREET. 



io8 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



one considers that this thoroughfare, situated midway between Michigan and Ashland avenues, 
is already congested by reason of the traffic poured into it by those important diagonals, Mil- 
waukee Avenue on the northwest and Blue Island Avenue on the southwest. 

The conditions now prevailing near the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street 
need thorough transformation. There the smoke from railroad shops and yards and from 
standing locomotives combines with the soot sent up by nearly four hundred trains that come 
and go each day. Steamships, tugs, and other river craft add their contribution; the near-by 
tanneries and the garbage wagons contribute their odors; the great coal docks, with their noisy 
buckets and intermittent engines, increase the din ; and the streets are covered with the sawdust. 




CXX. CHICAGO. PRELIMINARY SKETCH OF THE PLAZA AT MICH- 
IGAN AVENUE AND TWELFTH STREET LOOKING SOUTHEAST. 

coal, and dirt spilled from the thousands of wagons that constantly use this crossing. Close to 
this intersection is a cosmopolitan district inhabited by a mixture of races living amid surround- 
ings which are a menace to the moral and physical health of the community. 

The electrification of the railways within the city, which cannot be long delayed, will serve 
to change radically for the better the dirt conditions in this neighborhood; but the slum con- 
ditions will remain. The remedy is the same as has been resorted to the world over: first, the 
cutting of broad thoroughfares through the unwholesome district; and, secondly, the establishment 
and remorseless enforcement of sanitary regulations which shall insure adequate air-space for the 
dwellers in crowded areas, and absolute cleanliness in the street, on the sidewalks, and even 
within the buildings. The slum exists to-day only because of the failure of the city to protect 
itself against gross evils and known perils, all of which should be corrected by the enforcement 
of simple principles of sanitation that are recognized to be just, equitable, and necessary. It 
is no attack on private property to argue that society has the inherent right to protect itself against 
abuses; and when the city itself leads the way by the creation of broad streets well paved and 
cleaned, restrictions against overcrowding, defective drainage, and the heaping of waste in yards 
and side streets are but a logical sequence. In respect to street cleanliness and adequate air- 




CXXI. CHICAGO. PROPOSED TWELFTH STREET BOULEVARD AT I 

The proposed railway terminals are shown fronting on the Boulevard at its level, which is raised to allow north-and-south traffic to flow und 

the intersection of Twelfth and Canal streets a diagonal thoroughfare is shown extending to the proposed civic 

Painted for the Commer 



Twelfth Street 




1, •>-• Ashland Av( 



MTERSECTIONS WITH MICHIGAN ATONTJE AND ASHLAND AXTSNUE. 

.th. Access to the Boulevard is provided at alternate streets. The rise begins at Michigan Avenue and may end at 

r. Between this diagonal and the River is shown the beginning of the proposed West Side railway stations. 



Canal Street. From 



"lub by Jules Guerin. 



i^SJ 



(il!l •^ 



/ 




CXXII. CHICAGO. RAILWAY STATION SCHEME WEST OF THE RIVER BETWEEN 

This plan provides for the railways at a level 

Painted for the Conimei 





"i^''4i».-4N.^«K' 




AXD CLINTON STREETS, SHOWING THE RELATION WITH THE CIVIC CENTER, 
that of the street, with the stations above, 
ub by Jules Guerin. 



THE HEART OF CHICAGO 



109 



space, Chicago may well take a lesson from Berlin, where the streets are kept clean by daily 
washings, and where a property owner may build on only two-thirds of his land, leaving the remain- 
der for a court. Chicago has not yet reached the point where it will be necessary for the munici- 
pality to provide at its own expense, as does the city of London, for the rehousing of persons forced 
out of congested quarters; but unless the matter shall be taken in hand at once, such a course 
will be required in common justice to men and women so degraded by long life in the slums that 
they have lost all power of caring for themselves. 

In other localities in Chicago besides the one adverted to like conditions prevail, and must 
be dealt with in similar manner. 



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CXXIII. CHICAGO. ALTERNATE RAILWAY STATION SCHEME W^ST OF THE RIVER BETWEEN CANAL AND CLINTON 

STREETS. 
This plan provides for the railways at a level above that of the streets. 

It is proposed ultimately to widen La Salle Street from Van Buren Street south and to 
connect it with Wentworth Avenue, also widened; likewise to widen La Salle Avenue from the 
river north, — changes which will come about with the new arrangement of railway stations. By 
this means a much needed thoroughfare can be opened between the North and the South Sides; 
and when this is accomplished an open space should be created at the intersection of La Salle 
and Congress streets, around which should be grouped great business exchanges. This area 
would become the financial heart of the city, being directly connected in the best manner with the 
existing banking and office-building neighborhood. Such an axis as La Salle Street, running 
from the South Side north to Lincoln Park, and having no street cars on its surface, would seem 
to be demanded for that future time (perhaps not so far off) when the inhabitants of the city 
shall number several times as many as to-day. Canal Street, also, should be widened and ex- 
tended, as has already been discussed in the chapter on Transportation. 

The opportunity for one of the most comprehensive, convenient, and dignified compositions 
known to city planning anywhere comes from the combination of elements already existing in 



no PLAN OF CHICAGO 

Chicago, together with the manifest needs of the city in the immediate future. Chicago, unlike 
many American cities, has not been drawn away from the water. The creation of Grant Park 
adjacent to the Lake and extending along the entire business front of the city is of inestimable 
value. 

Grant Park readily lends itself to the function of a spacious and attractive public garden. 
The location of the Field Museum in the center of this space is a special instance of good for- 
tune. The purpose of this building is to gather under one roof the records of civilization culled 
from every portion of the globe, and representing man's struggle through the ages for advance- 
ment. Hence it must become a center of human interest, making appeal alike to the citizen 
and the visitor; to those who are drawn by curiosity and those who come for study. The very 
size of the building required to hold and display such collections as are being formed fits it to play 
an important part in the architectural development of the city.' At the same time the great 
size of the area in which it is placed calls for supporting buildings, to answer corresponding 
needs. The South Park Commissioners have arranged also for the location of the new Crerar 
Library building in Grant Park, and a fund of over one million dollars will be available for that 
structure. This institution, intended for the use of the student of social, physical, natural, and 
applied science, renders to the community a special service which permits a location irrespective 
of the center of population. It is the expressed intention of the trustees to make the building 
monumental in character and classical in style of architecture, so that it will harmonize with 
the design of the Field Museum.^ As meeting center for the scientific societies of the West, the 
location in Grant Park, near the buildings devoted to music and art, seems most appropriate. 
Moreover, the space set apart on the plan for this structure allows for that expansion in the way 
of lecture and convention halls which the growing importance of this institution will render 
necessary. If it shall be found desirable, the central building and administrative headquarters 
of the Public Library might also be located at this point, thus establishing here a center of letters, 
similar to the Sorbonne in Paris. 

The Art Institute, already located in Grant Park, now occupies a site, a portion of which 
is needed for the widening of Michigan Avenue; and at the same time the increase in the col- 
lections will soon necessitate a larger structure than the one now in use.' When the new gallery 
and school shall be built, the location should occupy the same relative position north of the Field 
Museum that is proposed for the library group on the south. The plan shows a gallery of the fine 
arts, together with a school of art, comprising lecture halls, exhibition rooms, ateliers, and gen- 
eral administration quarters. To complete this composition would be open-air loggias and gar- 
dens, the whole group being akin to the great art museums and schools of Europe. In Boston 
the new art museum now under construction in the Back Bay district has been located in the 
midst of the most attractive surroundings, near the fine group of buildings recently erected for 

' The Field Museum of Natural History, established in 1894, at the close of the World's Columbian Exposition, was made pos- 
sible by the gift of one million dollars by Marshall Field, who at his death in iqo6 bequeathed a further eight million dollars, one-half 
for the erection of a building, and one-half for endowment. Another half million has been contributed by various individuals; and 
to the $25,000 annual income aside from the endowment, about $100,000 for maintenance will be raised annually by taxation. On 
the collections representing anthropology, botany, geology, and zoology, over two million dollars has been expended, and the institu- 
tion (now occupying temporary quarters in Jackson Park) has a staff of directors and curators, a library of 50,000 titles, a well 
equipped publication bureau, and other appropriate accessories. By a contract between the South Park Commissioners and the 
trustees of the Field Museum, dated January 31, 1907, the site in Grant Park was set aside for the new building. 

^ The Crerar Library had its foundation in the bequest made by the late John Crerar, a resident of Chicago from 1862 until his 
death in 1894. The endowment fund is upwards of $3,400,000. The new building will have accommodations for a million volumes, 
and provisions will be made for extensions when necessary. 

' The collections of the Art Institute now give the galleries a rank among the first three or four in the country. The present 
building was opened in 1893. 




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CXXIV. CHICAGO. PLAN OF GRANT PARK AND THE 
Three main groups of buildings devoted to letters, science, and arts; meadows, playgrounds, plaz 

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lRbor, showing proposed .\rr.\xgemext. 

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CXXV. CHICAGO. ELEVATION OF GRANT 1. 




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THE HEART OF CHICAGO iii 

the Harvard Medical School, and near other educational institutions which have been established 
on lands reclaimed by the city in much the same manner that Grant Park has been created. In 
New York the large extension of the Metropolitan Art Museum in Central Park indicates clearly 
the growing demand for great galleries adapted for the exhibition of works of the fine arts. 

The assembling in Grant Park of three monumental groups so as to form one composition 
offers opportunity for treatment impressive and dignified in the highest degree. It is such op- 
portunities which when properly utilized give to a city both charm and distinction, because of the 
satisfaction which the mind obtains in contemplating orderly architectural arrangements of great 
magnitude both in themselves and in relation to the city of which they thus become an integral 
part. On the other hand, the failure to realize such possibilities inevitably creates dissatisfaction 
over lost opportunities; and this feeling increases with the years and is shared by all the people. 

Economy, as well as effectiveness, dictates the adoption of a group plan; for the buildings 
have kindred uses, and should express relationship both in their architecture and also in their 
landscape settings. Indeed they may well be found together by porticos to protect the visitor 
against sun and rain; and such porticos would offer abundant means of adornment by statues, 
paintings, and commemorative inscriptions. One has only to recall the impressiveness of the 
Peristyle at the World's Fair to understand the value of the colonnade as an adjunct to buildings 
beautiful in themselves. 

The landscape setting of the Grant Park group offers opportunities of the highest order. 
The broad terraces need for their relief the green of trees and the judicious use of parterres; 
and the walks and driveways, if well located, will give the sense of unity, while at the same time 
adding to the convenience of the visitor. 

It should be realized clearly that as Michigan Avenue is widened and extended, the great 
traffic which this thoroughfare is sure to bear will come to require large open spaces for gather- 
ings of people to witness parades and pageants and for similar occasions. Much of the pass- 
ing from north to south will utilize the lakeside drive; and at gala times, when the harbor is 
illuminated, the terraces of Grant Park will afford unsurpassed views of the spectacle. Such 
pleasures make a universal appeal, and give charm and brightness to the life of people who must 
of necessity pass long summers in the city. 

The yacht harbor, planned to extend the entire length of the park, is enclosed on the north 
and south by broad recreation piers stretching for a mile and a half into the Lake; and provis- 
ion is made for transit lines reaching to the ends of the piers, so as to make these places parks 
of decided value. The movement among the yachts and small craft ; the life of the club-houses 
by day and the bright lights by night already lend interest to the Lake front; and as the city 
grows, the increased boating facilities will afford opportunities for indulging in one of the most 
universally popular sports, while at the same time imparting life to the otherwise monotonous 
stretch of water. 

Such a treatment for Grant Park is not only feasible, but it requires no radical change in 
present procedure. It is the obvious and natural manner in which the work will be conducted 
unless some violent change or some regrettable failure to act shall work distortion in a plan that 
must commend itself to the judgment of those who study the whole problem of the develop- 
ment of the Lake front in its relation to the city of Chicago. No additional expense is involved ; 
for public money is being spent continuously to accomplish the same ends. The plan merely 
provides for the most effective and satisfactory manner of expending that money. 



112 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

The advantages of developing Grant Park as the intellectual center of Chicago cannot be 
overestimated; for art everj^vhcre has been a source of wealth and moral influence. Already 
the students at the Art Institute number more than four thousand, and as art collections and 
opportunities for study increase Chicago will draw pupils from many states. The influence of 
this training in raising the standard of public taste and in creating demands for better physical 
conditions must be manifest. The possession of Saint-Gaudens' statue of Lincoln is a distinc- 
tion to the city of Chicago, in the same sense that the Sistine Madonna enriches Dresden. Take 
the Louvre from Paris, the Rubens collection from Antwerp, the National Gallery and the British 
Museum from London, the Public Library and the Art ^Museum from Boston, the Metropoli- 
tan Museum from New York, and the Library of Congress from Washington, and the commercial 
loss to those cities would be very considerable. When Chicago realizes all the advantages of 
the location in Grant Park of three great groups of buildings devoted to the intellectual and 
aesthetic cravings of man, it must be apparent that the city will have a great asset in the gifts 
of those public-spirited citizens who have found satisfaction in leaving to the public useful 
memorials of the successful lives of the givers. 

Public-spirited citizens have left precious legacies by providing for the intellectual and 
aesthetic needs of the people ; and it should be esteemed a high privilege as well as a sacred duty 
to administer those gifts in such a manner as to accomplish the most effective results from the 
benefactions. So to manifest appreciation encourages others to emulate the good example; and 
simply by taking thought the city gains constantly by the addition of monuments which bene- 
fit the whole community. 

South of Grant Park, and extending along the lagoon between Twelfth and Twenty-second 
streets, the plans show a great meadow developed as an athletic field, with central gymnasium, 
outdoor exercising grounds, swimming beaches, and such other features as have been found ad- 
visable in the playground parks. 

Another great opportunity comes from the fact that the river flows through the center of 
the business district. It has been the experience of European cities that the banks of a river, 
although at first devoted only to commercial purposes, sooner or later are transformed into 
places which combine business uses with drives and promenades for traflfic and for the pleasure 
of the people. The treatment of the Thames in London, the Seine in Paris, the Danube in 
Vienna and Budapest, the Scheldt at Antwerp, the Riverside Drive in New York, and the pro- 
posed Potomac Quay at Washington are, all of them, instances of a development which indicates 
clearly what must also result to the Chicago River when the city comes to give attention to other 
needs in addition to those of commerce and manufactures. 

The grouping of railway passenger terminals along Canal and Twelfth streets will add 
another element of good order, convenience, and architectural dignity; for it is not to be conceived 
that as the railroads replace their present inadequate structures the new buildings will be less 
important or less dignified than those which have been built in other cities. It is to be supposed 
rather that the greatest railway center in the world will be able to command terminal stations 
equal in every respect to any that have been constructed elsewhere. 

An adequate study of existing conditions in the Heart of Chicago must show the necessity 
of providing adequate means of circulation from west to east throughout the business center. 
Chicago Avenue is already a wide thoroughfare capable of carrying the heavy traflSc which in- 
evitably it will be called upon to bear; and the widening of Twelfth Street is required as a means 




CXXVII. CHICAGO. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW AT NIGHT OF GR.\NT PARK, THE FACADE OF THE CIT 

Painted for the Commer « 




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[E PROPOSED HARBOR, AXD THE LAGOOXS OF THE PROPOSED PARK OX THE SOUTH SHORE 
iUD oy Jules Guerin. 




CXXVin. CHICAGO. PROPOSED PL.\ZA ON MICHIGAN AVENUE WEST OF THE FIELD MUSEUM O 

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I Club by Jules Guerin. 








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CXXX. CHICAGO. PLAN OF THE PROPOSED GROUP OF MUiVICIPAL BUILDINGS OR CIVIC CENTER. AT THE INTERSECTION OF CONGRESS AND HALSTED 

STREETS. 
This plan indicates a possible orderly and harmonious arrangement of public buildings grouped for the purpose of administration, near the center of population. 
The central building is planned not only to dominate the place in front of it, but also to mark the center of the city from afar, and it is in part a monument to the spirit 

of civic unity. 



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CXX<1 CHICAGO 



THE HEART OF CHICAGO 



113 




CXXXIII. PARIS. THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE, LOOKING OVER THE 

SEINE TOWARDS THE MADELEINE. 
This square is one of the great circulatory centers, placed on the grand axis 
of the city (the Champs Elysees) and the circuit of the grand boulevards. 



of giving access to the Lake front to the dense population west of the River, which is now prac- 
tically shut off from the enjoyment of this most attractive feature of Chicago life. It would be 
desirable to widen several of the east-and-west streets that pass through the present business dis- 
trict, but such a course would 
be inexpedient, on account of 
the prohibitive cost of the land 
and buildings abutting on those 
thoroughfares. For this reason 
it is not proposed to widen east- 
and-west streets north of Con- 
gress. It is within reasonable 
financial possibility, however, 
to develop a great avenue, ex- 
tending from Michigan Avenue 
throughout the city and west- 
ward indefinitely. This would 
result in providing for all time 
to come a thoroughfare which 
would be to the city what the 
backbone is to the body. Thus, 
and thus only, is it possible to 
establish organic unity, and, in connection with the improvement of the streets above men- 
tioned, to give order and coherence to the plan of Chicago. 

The selection of Congress Street 
for development into a broad cross 
avenue is urged by many considerations. 
First, this particular street coincides 
substantially with the center of the 
business district; and also is about 
equidistant from the other east-and- 
west streets (Twelfth and Washington, 
and Twenty-second and Chicago Ave- 
nue) which most readily lend them- 
selves to development as arteries in the 
street system; and it is also equidistant 
from the two great east-and-west rail- 
road rights-of-way at Kinzie and at 
Sixteenth streets. Secondly, the very 
fact that Congress Street now exists 
only in disconnected portions, and that 
the buildings throughout the proposed 
cutting are comparatively inexpensive, offers a very strong argument for its selection on 
the score of economy. The widening of another street would mean the destruction of 
two frontages in order to obtain sufficient width without encroaching on the building space 




CXXXIV. DRESDEN. THE ZWINGERHOF. 

A formal arrangement of architecture and public gardens in the 

center of a city. 



114 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 




CXXXV. VIENNA. THE RINGSTRASSE, SHOWING THE PUBLIC 

BUILDINGS GROUPED ABOUT SQUARES AND GARDENS ALONG 

ITS COURSE. 



on parallel streets. Thirdly, Congress Street stands in such relations to Grant Park that its use 
as a central axis of the city allows park and avenue to sustain reciprocal relations in the highest 
degree conducive both to convenience and to good order. Fourthly, the opening of Congress 

Street would create, in combination 
with Van Buren Street on the north 
and Harrison Street on the south, a 
triple set of arteries at the center of 
things. There are no arguments fav- 
oring the selection of another street 
which present such a combination of 
advantages as is to be found in the 
choice of Congress Street. The dia- 
gram showing business occupancy 
indicates that Congress Street is 
already very near the center of the 
great commercial activities, and also 
that this center has steadily moved 
in a southwesterly direction. 

Thus far the argument for the 
selection of Congress Street has dealt 
with purely practical questions, which 
in themselves would seem to be conclusive. The choice of Congress Street is quite as logical 
from an aesthetic point of view. In a sense the Field Museum will be one of the important 
buildings in the city. The site selected 
is exactly opposite the intersection of 
Congress Street with Michigan Avenue. 
To create a great cross avenue without 
utilizing the element of symmetry which 
this noble building stands ready to 
furnish would be to set at defiance 
every law of civic order, and to perpe- 
trate a crime against good taste that 
could never be atoned for. It is incon- 
ceivable that in the present state of 
public taste any people would permit 
such a barbarism. 

The new Congress Street should be 
created with a width, from Wabash 
Avenue westward, of from 200 to 250 
feet to Canal Street ; and thence to the 
civic square the width should approxi- 
mate 300 feet. The roadways should be divided for the various kinds of traffic, and it should 
furnish opportunities for the highest class of adornment known to civic art. Theaters, public 
and semi-public buildings, retail shops, and all the other structures which are to be found on 




CXXXVI. ROME. 



PETER'S CATHEDRAL, SHOWING THE 
APPROACH. 




CXXXVII. CHICAGO. VIEW OF THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMEMT IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY, FROM TWENTY- 

AND LAK 
Painted for the Comme 




\ 








n 



rONT) STREET TO CHICAGO AVEXUE, LOOKING TOWARDS THE EAST 0\'ER THE CIVIC CENTER TO GR.^NT PARK. 
l[ MICHIGAN. 
je al Club by Jules Guerin. 



THE HEART OF CHICAGO 



115 



frequented streets would come to be built along a thoroughfare which from the time of its open- 
ing would be of the first importance.' 

As it is proposed to group in Grant Park the buildings pertaining to art, literature, and 
science, so it is planned to create on the axis of Congress Street a composition representing the 
dignity and importance of the city from the administrative point of view. Where Congress 
Street intersects Halsted Street, a civic center should be established. At this center radiating 
arteries naturally converge. The population in Chicago has stretched itself along the Lake 
shore; but the center of density has moved steadily in a southwesterly direction. Beginning 
with the original Fort Dearborn reservation, the line of density of population passes through the 
present location of the City Hall and the Court House, thence a little to the south of the proposed 
civic center. INIoreover, the point selected for the civic center is the center of gravity, so to speak, 
of all the radial arteries entering Chicago. Even now the proposed center is not far in advance 




CXXXVIII. BERLIN. SPREE ISLAND, IN THE HEART OF THE CITY. 

of the growth of the city; while at the same time land values in the area selected are not excessive. 

The buildings comprised in the civic center naturally fall into three divisions, represented by 
the City of Chicago, by Cook County, and by the Federal Government ; and inasmuch as a single 
building would be insufficient to accommodate the offices either of the city or of the general gov- 
ernment, there should eventually be three groups. Of these three the city group would predomi- 
nate, with the city hall as the central building. The city administration building should accom- 
modate the mayor and the common council, together with the clerks and officers directly connected 
with the administrative and legislative departments; also the headquarters of the fire depart- 
ment; the offices of the board of education, including those of the superintendent of schools; 
the offices of the city attorney, the auditor, the board of assessors, the tax collectors, the license 
department; the board of local improvements, the elections bureau, and others of like character. 

Ultimately there should be a separate building for the department of public works; but for 
the immediate future one wing of the administrative building may be set apart for the engineers 
and surveyors, for the electrical department, and the departments of sewers, water, and gas, and 
the superintendent of streets. The need of special quarters for this division of the public service 

■ While Congress Street is the ideal location for the grand a.\is, the development of one of the parallel streets and a correspond- 
ing change in the site of the Field Museum and of the civic center might be resorted to, if obstacles to the use of Congress Street arise 
which shall seem insuperable. 



ii6 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

arises not only from the extent and character of the work of the various bureaus, but also because 
of the great number of people who of necessity resort to them in order to obtain permits for con- 
structing and repairing buildings, for establishing electrical, gas, and water connections, and to 
transact the vast amount of business arising in a department that affects every business, institution, 
and home. 

The department of public health, requiring extensive laboratories, should include an emer- 
gency hospital, rooms for the commission on insanity, and a detention place for the insane, as well 
as a bureau of vital statistics; offices for the health, food, and milk inspectors; quarters for the 
coroner, including autopsy and inquest rooms and a public morgue. 

The hall of records should be accessible to the courts and the other departments of the public 
service, and to the general public. The building should be so constructed as to secure its con- 
tents from possible danger from fire or the results of dampness; and it should be so arranged and 
administered as to make the records immediately available. 

The court-house building offers architectural opportunities of the first order; and here again 
the dignity, majesty, and impartiality of justice should be made manifest in every appointment, 
so as to teach the lesson that "obedience to law is liberty." The highest of the city courts, with 
chambers for the judges; the grand jury quarters; trial jury rooms, with accommodations for 
lodging juries over night; the offices of the district attorney; the marriage license department; 
and the law^ library should be housed in this edifice. 

To the building used as the police headquarters would be assigned the central police court 
with its official clerks, stenographers, bailiffs, bond and warrant officers; the city prison, with its 
complement of vaults for criminal records of all kinds ; the headquarters of the chief of police and 
of the staff of detectives; a drill-room, assembly-room, gymnasium, and practice gallery for shoot- 
ing, and arsenal. One reason for making this building one of the civic group is to promote the 
convenience of the citizens who are called to the court for jury duty or as witnesses. 

The central administrative building, as shown in the illustrations, is surmounted by a dome of 
impressive height, to be seen and felt by the people, to whom it should stand as the symbol of civic 
order and unity. Rising from the plain upon which Chicago rests, its effect may be compared 
to that of the dome of St. Peter's at Rome. The buildings are shown raised on terraces one story 
in height. These terraces would give great dignity to the structures, and would mark the tran- 
sition from them to the great open space on which they front. The motifs surmounting the ter- 
races, with such other accessories as refuges, shelters, subway stations, balustrades, and lamps, 
would combine to unite the square into an harmonious whole. The group of buildings may be 
connected by subways, or even bridges treated in the form of colonnades or arcades of a decorative 
character, all contributing to the general effect of the square. 

Space at the civic center should be reserved for the next county building which Cook County 
will build when the present one becomes too small to accommodate the county business. Ex"perience 
shows that in this country a public building is no sooner finished than it is found not sufficiently 
extensive to provide for the public business that it was meant to serve. 

The designs for this square and its buildings are suggestions of what may be done, for the 
report does not seek to impose any particular form on structures that when executed must carry out 
a program written by the growing necessities for adequate accommodations for administrative 
offices and the rapidly developing demand on the part of the public for order and beauty in the 
arrangement of these elements of city life. 




II 



' ^^W ^1 







THE HEART OF CHICAGO 117 

The administration building, located on the main axis, is placed in such a manner that, while 
dominating the square, it docs not obstruct the flow of traffic which will be poured into this open 
space from the streets reaching it, and in particular from the great radial arteries. The latter 
thoroughfares are schemed to center upon an obelisk in the middle of the square, the base of 
which it is proposed to combine with a decorative fountain, treated with the greatest richness, 
since it will be located on the spot which is to be the center of interest in the city. 

The Federal group should be only less extensive than that devoted to city purposes. The 
Chicago Federal Building, completed in 1905, is already inadequate. Indeed it has been the cus- 
tom of the general government to attempt to house many and divergent departments of adminis- 
tration under one roof. In a great city like Chicago the dignity and the business of the United 
States courts demand a building exclusively for that one purpose. The post-office is now seeking 
a site on the West Side. Thus the opportunity is at hand to begin the civic center group with a 
building of importance, by locating it in connection with ground reserved on the plan as a public 
square which finally shall be surrounded with administrative buildings. The custom-house and 
the internal revenue office; the various offices of the engineers employed on lake and river im- 
provements and surveys; the lighthouse service; the inspectors of steam vessels; the life-saving 
service; the recruiting officers for the army and the navy; the emigrant inspectors; and the vari- 
ous other officials charged with enforcing the rapidly growing body of laws for the protection of 
health and the promotion of good order, — all this army of employees of the United States should 
have suitable quarters in buildings erected for the exclusive use of the government. The Federal 
buildings alone, if they are to be adequate to the demands of the public business, would require a 
group of buildings of the first order in so far as architecture and location are concerned. 

The civic center will be dependent for its effectiveness on the character of the architecture 
displayed in the buildings themselves, in their harmonious relations one with another, and in the 
amount of the space in which they are placed. Surely, the results attained at the World's 
Columbian Exposition in 1893 so amply proved the truth of these principles that it is not 
necessary to enlarge upon them. The attainment of harmony, good order, and beauty is not 
a question of money cost, for in the end good buildings are far cheaper than bad buildings. 
What is required is enlightened understanding and competent planning; the great buildings of 
the world are simple and inex-pensive when compared with many of the over elaborate struct- 
ures of the present day; but for centuries they have served their important purposes and the 
people will not give them up, because they have become part and parcel of their life. They 
typify the permanence of the city, they record its history, and express its aspirations. Such a 
group of buildings as Chicago should and may possess would be for all time to come a distinction 
to the city. It would be what the Acropolis was to Athens, or the Forum to Rome, and what 
St. Mark's Square is to Venice, — the very embodiment of civic life. Land should be acquired 
in quantity sufficient to carry out a plan commensurate with Chicago's needs, and with her 
dominating position in this region. This plan first should be worked out by the architects, 
and then should be realized by the concerted action of the community. 

Important as is the civic center considered by itself, when taken in connection with this 
plan of Chicago it becomes the keystone of the arch. The development of Halsted Street, and 
Ashland and Michigan avenues, flanked by the great thoroughfares of Chicago Avenue and 
Twelfth Street, will give form to the business center; while the opening of Congress Street 
as the great central axis of the city will at once create coherence in the city plan. Nowhere else on 



ii8 



PLAN OF CHICAGO 



this continent does there exist so great a possibility combined with such ease of attainment. Simply 
by an intelHgent handling of the changes necessary to accommodate the growing business of 
Chicago, a city both unified and beautiful will result. The Lake front will be opened to those 
who are now shut away from it by lack of adequate approaches; the great masses of people 
which daily converge in the now congested center will be able to come and go quickly and 
without discomfort; the intellectual life of the city will be stimulated by institutions grouped 
in Grant Park; and in the center of all the varied activities of Chicago will rise the towering 
dome of the civic center, vivifying and unifying the entire composition. 





STUDY FOR THE DOME OF THE PROPOSED CIVIC CENTER. 
From a study by F. Janin. 




CXLI. VIEW EASTWARD TO LAKE MICHIGAN. 



CHAPTER VIII 




THE PL.\N OF CHICAGO: THE RESULT OF SYSTEMATIC STUDY: THE COST INVOLVED IN CARRY- 
ING OUT THE WORK: THE PEOPLE ARE FINANCIALLY ABLE TO RE.ALIZE THE PLAN: THE 
ELEMENTS INVOLVED: HOW THE COST MAY BE DIVIDED: THE FINAL RESULT. 

T HE plan of Chicago as presented in illustration and text is the 
result of a systematic and comprehensive study, carried on during 
a period of thirty months, with the sole purpose of mapping out an 
ideal project for the physical development of this city. Perfection 
of detail is not claimed, but the design as a whole is placed before 
the public in the confident belief that it points the way to realize 
civic conditions of unusual economy, convenience, and beauty. 

It is fully realized that a plan calling for improvements on 
a scale larger and more inclusive than any heretofore proposed 
seems, on first consideration, beyond the financial ability of the 
community. If, however, the plan meets public approval, it can be executed without seriously 
increasing present burdens. The very growth of the city, creating as it does wealth greater than 
mines can produce, gives a basis of bond issues in excess of the utmost cost involved in carrying 
out this plan. The increase in the assessed value of real estate in the city of Chicago for the past 
ten years exceeds the expense required to put the plan into execution; and at the same time 
the very character of the proposed changes is such as to stimulate the increase in wealth. The 
public, therefore, has the power to put the plan into effect if it shall determine to do so. 

It is quite possible that some revision of existing laws may be necessary in order to enable 
the people to carry out this project; but this is clearly within the power of the people themselves. 
The realization of the plan, therefore, depends entirely on the strength of the public sentiment 
in its favor. And what hope is there that the people will desire to make Chicago an ideal city? 
A brief survey of the past will help to form an opinion on this subject. 

Sixty years ago, when Chicago was scarcely more than a village, it became apparent that in 

119 



I20 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

order to secure proper drainage the street levels must be raised to a considerable extent through- 
out what we know as the old city, from the main river to Twelfth Street, and also for a distance 
on the West and North Sides. This project, albeit a very formidable one for that time, was 
promptly entered upon and duly carried out, although it involved raising all the streets and most 
of the buildings throughout that large territory. For that day and generation the undertaking 
was much more serious than the reconstruction of the city thoroughfares now proposed. 

Again, some fifty years ago, when the idea of creating great metropolitan park areas was 
new, Chicago undertook to acquire and improve a chain of parks surrounding the city on three 
sides. This scheme, which has well supplied the needs of Chicago until recent times, was carried 
out in such a manner that it never was burdensome. The creation of a park system for Chicago 
was not undertaken from motives of utility, but purely because of a desire to make the city 
attractive; and the success was magnificent. 

Later, in the Eighties, the purification of the water of Lake Michigan by the diversion of the 
sewage became a public issue. Once again the people of Chicago rose to the occasion; and 
after years of hard work the Drainage Canal, built at a cost of $60,000,000, has been completed. 

Next came the World's Fair, in the early Nineties, and here also a result was accomplished 
which has never been surpassed either in scope or in architectural beauty. The cost of the Fair 
(over $20,000,000 for grounds and buildings alone) was very large for that day. The fact that 
the Fair came into being here indicated that this people, generally regarded as a commercial com- 
munity, were deeply appreciative of the higher forms of good order and municipal beauty. 

The Chicago World's Fair, like the raising of the grades of the city, the creation of a complete 
system of parks and boulevards, and the building of the Drainage Canal, went far beyond any- 
thing of the same kind ever before undertaken by a city. These four works are the greatest ones 
which have been achieved by Chicago. They have proved the readiness of the people to take 
up large schemes of public improvement which at the time of their inception required great 
foresight and great faith in the future. Two of them were demanded by considerations ex- 
clusively practical, while the other two were not so regarded, but on the other hand were the 
expression of the deeper sense in man of the value of delightful surroundings. If an accurate 
statement of the costs of the four improvements could be made, it would probably show that 
about equal sums have been spent on the practical and on the aesthetic side. 

Besides the public enterprises mentioned, the people of Chicago, either collectively or as 
individuals, have established many agencies for the improvement of the intellectual, social, 
moral, and aesthetic conditions. The Chicago Orchestra occupies land and buildings on 
Michigan Avenue which have a present value of over a million and a quarter of dollars; and 
during the past twenty years private subscriptions have amounted to at least another million, all 
expended for an organization purely artistic. The Art Institute building in Grant Park cost 
$700,000, and since its completion, in 1893, it has never been closed for a day. Besides its large 
and excellent art school, there is a good collection of the works of old and modern masters, 
which is constantly receiving additions. The Crerar Library has an endowment fund of three 
and a half millions, besides a substantial building fund; and the Newberry Library and the 
Armour Institute of Technology are other worthy public benefactions. 

Especially notable are the educational foundations which contribute so largely to the intel- 
lectual life of the city, and exert an influence throughout the Middle West, — Lake Forest Uni- 
versity, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago. The last-named institution, 



THE FINAL RESULT 121 

established in 1892, has ahready taken its place among the foremost universities in this country, 
not only by reason of its endowment and property (representing more than $23,000,000), but 
also because of wise administration along a well-considered plan. 

Quite in accord with the plan of Chicago is the Benjamin Franklin Ferguson Monument 
Fund of a million dollars, the income of which is available for defraying the cost of statuary 
commemorating worthy men and women of America, or important events in American history, 
to be erected in the parks and boulevards of the city, under the direction of the trustees of 
the Art Institute. The Field Museum, representing gifts aggregating $9,000,000, is a further 
instance of loyalty to the city and a desire for its improvement. 

Such enterprises and such gifts as those enumerated show what may be expected from 
individual benefactions as wealth increases and the idea of public service is encouraged. When 
opportunities for enriching the city are provided, individual citizens rise to the occasion, and 
find true satisfaction in leaving memorials useful or agreeable to the people. 

Mere increase in numbers does not warrant the belief that public sentiment in favor of exten- 
sive public works will grow in proportion to the population ; but the history of the past does prove 
that the people of Chicago are always ready and anxious to follow when the way to great benefits 
is plainly open. We believe that the tendency which the community has shown by its acts 
points hopefully to the adoption of a great scheme of public improvement. In other words, 
Chicago having already carried out large projects strictly on the lines of this report, may we not, 
therefore, confidently expect this people to go on doing as they have done ? 

There is a still stronger reason for the belief that the public will favor such a plan as is herein 
presented. It lies in the growing love of good order, due to the advance in education. Every one 
knows that the civic conditions which prevailed fifty years ago would not now be tolerated any- 
where ; and every one believes that conditions of to-day will not be tolerated by the men who shall 
follow us. This must be so, unless progress has ceased. The education of a community inevitably 
brings about a higher appreciation of the value of systematic improvement, and results in a strong 
desire on the part of the people to be surrounded by conditions in harmony with the growth of 
good taste; and as fast as the people can be brought to see the advantage to them of more orderly 
arrangement of the streets, transportation lines, and parks, it is well-nigh certain that they will 
bring about such desirable ends. Thus do the dreams of to-day become the commonplaces of to- 
morrow; and what we now deem fanciful will become mere matter-of-fact to the man of the future. 

If the plan as a whole be approved by the majority of our citizens because it is found to be 
both practical and beautiful, the next question is as to what it commits us. In answering this 
query a general review of the principal elements composing the plan will be of value. The 
following list comprises the main items: 

First. The improvement of the Lake front. 

Second. The creation of a system of highways outside the city. 

Third. The improvement of railway terminals, and the development of a complete traction 
system for both freight and passengers. 

Fourth. The acquisition of an outer park system, and of parkway circuits. 

Fijth. The systematic arrangement of the streets and avenues within the city, in order to 
facilitate the movement to and from the business district. 

Sixth. The development of centers of intellectual life and of civic administration, so related 
as to give coherence and unity to the city. 



122 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

The improvement of the Lake front from Winnetka to the Indiana line is an economic neces- 
sity. As has been stated, the aggregate of the waste material seeking dumping ground on the 
Lake shore because that is the cheapest place to deposit it, is not less than one million cubic 
yards per annum. This material is sufficient to produce annually from twenty-seven to thirty 
acres of land if used to build the Lake parkways and park-strips herein recommended. The park 
authorities would only have to furnish breakwaters and bridges and to finish the grounds. The 
utilization of this material in thirty years would produce all the Lake front land recommended 
in the report for the region between Grant and Jackson parks. But long before the expiration 
of the thirty years the amount of filling urgently seeking the Lake front dump will be enormously 
increased. This dirt should be utilized for the public benefit, instead of being wasted as at 
present in the open Lake, where it becomes detrimental to health and an interference to naviga- 
tion. The dirt to be disposed of in building new traction tunnels under the principal streets of 
the city will go far toward the completion of the new Lake shore parks. It is evident, therefore, 
that this improvement, involving the redemption of the entire Lake front from Winnetka to the 
Indiana state line, and the creation of an extremely beautiful and useful public recreation ground, 
will involve very little public expense. There can be no doubt that this part of the plan of 
Chicago will be carried through; and in fact much is already being accomplished along these lines. 

The interurban highway system can be realized very cheaply. Ninety-five per cent of the 
necessary roads now exist as public highways, and the cost of acquiring the other five per cent 
will be merely nominal. The diagram (Plate XL) is laid out with a radius of approximately sixty 
miles from the city hall. The cost of widening that comparatively small portion of the roadways 
which require to be widened; the straightening of the few which need such treatment; the plant- 
ing of trees along the highways; and the macadamizing of the roads are improvements that may 
be hastened by concerted intelligent action. The expense involved is comparatively small, but 
the economy and convenience to the public are very large. Is it not evident that this portion of 
the plan can be realized at no distant day provided a strong organization of active men shall be 
formed for the purpose of carrying it into effect ? 

The suggestions in regard to trunk lines, their rights-of-way, stations, and general conditions, 
are many and serious. The suggestions have been made for the purpose of bringing about the 
greatest economy of money and time, both in freight and passenger handling. If the recommen- 
dations herein contained will produce conditions really beneficial to the individual shipper and 
passenger, undoubtedly they will be found best for the railroads themselves. The direct object 
in view is to free a large portion of the South Side from tracks and stations and restore it to busi- 
ness use; to double the capacity of the streets of the whole city by opening circulation to the 
north, west, and south, and by connecting the outlying parts in the best possible manner with the 
heart of the city. Over and above all these considerations, highly important as they all are, 
is economy in the freight handling of Chicago as a shipping center. The object here has been to 
find that general principle which, if applied, will give to the merchants, manufacturers, and jobbers 
of this city all the advantages that should naturally be theirs throughout the great territory dom- 
inated by Chicago. If the general scheme herein proposed shall not be adopted by the public and 
the railroads, some other inevitably must be, because the very life of the community is involved in 
the solution of this problem. The commercial prosperity of the community is represented by the 
cost per ton of handling freight into and out of this territory as a shipping center. General changes 
in railroad conditions take years to accomplish. That will be the case if such a scheme as we 



THE FINAL RESULT 123 

recommend is carried out; but the public should remember that they will not be taxed to pay 
for it. WTien these improvements come they will be railroad enterprises, undertaken by the 
railroads and carried out by the railroads. 

The traction recommendations contained in this report are already in progress, and no ques- 
tion need be raised as to whether or not this portion of work will be carried out. It has practically 
been decided upon, and no doubt will be accomplished. The cost will be borne in part by the 
traction lines themselves, and partly by the public. 

The additional parks and parkways recommended are extensive, as should be the case. 
Although it is true that the men of forty years ago did devise a scheme which has been sufficient 
almost up to the present moment, it is also true that the number, location, and arrangement of 
the parks and parkways of Chicago to-day are entirely inadequate for its future development; 
and nothing is suggested in this report except what has seemed to be absolutely required. Fifty 
years ago, before population had become dense in certain portions of the city, people could live 
without parks; but we of to-day cannot. We now regard the promotion of robust health of body 
and mind as necessary public duties, in order that the individual may be benefited, and that the com- 
munity at large may possess a higher average degree of good citizenship. And after all has been said, 
good citizenship is the prime object of good city planning. In some locations parks and park- 
ways are sufficient to accommodate the people in the immediate neighborhoods; other sections of 
this city, and suburbs which will soon become parts of this city, should be equally well provided. 
"Nature," says President Charles W. Eliot, "is the greatest factor in the continuous education of 
man and woman." The extensive woodlands proposed are an addition not usually designed for 
American cities, although almost invariably used in Europe. The cost of these added parks and 
woodlands will be considerable, and it must be borne by the public ; but it is a sane proposition 
that the people of Chicago and its suburbs should have the sixty thousand acres of wooded ter- 
ritory as well as the great Bow, (Plate CIII) which will occupy from six to eight hundred addi- 
tional acres. The acquisition and completion of an outer park system may easily be carried 
through in ten years; and if the cost shall be distributed over that period of time, it will not prove 
burdensome. The returns will come in the shape of increase of health and joy of living for all 
the people; and incidentally the value of every real estate holding in the city v\'ill be enhanced. 

The land necessary for the civic center should be secured at once, while values at the point 
proposed are reasonable. For the time being this land may be treated as park space ; but the 
sites and the general scheme of grouping for the buildings should be approved, so that as the city, 
the county, and the general government outgrow their present structures, the new ones may take 
their appointed places, each one contributing its part to an orderly and convenient scheme. 
The adoption of such a scheme would save a very large amount of money in the purchase of 
public building sites; and would create stability in real estate values. To the West Side espe- 
cially the development of a civic center along the lines indicated is a matter of prime importance; 
for it will give to that portion of the city the needed impetus towards higher standards than now 
prevail there. At the same time it will benefit all other parts of the city, since it is for the advan- 
tage of Chicago as a whole that each portion shall be developed equally with every other portion. 
The cost of the civic center should be paid by the whole community. 

The street plan as laid out involves a ver\' considerable amount of money; but it will be 
found that in Chicago as in other cities, the opening of new thoroughfares, although involving 
large initial expense, creates an increase in values, due to increase in convenience and the provis- 



124 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

ion for adequate sites for the increasing retail traffic of the city. The cost will amount to many 
millions of dollars, but the result will be continuous prosperity for all who dwell here ; and such 
prosperity the city cannot have unless it becomes a convenient and pleasant place in which to live. 

Finally, it seems probable that the schemes of outer highways and of all the Lake front 
improvements may come about quite naturally and with very little expense to the city ; that the 
railways will pay most of the expense of their changes and improvements, thus leaving a portion of 
the cost of the traction system and all of the cost of the civic center, of the parks and parkways, 
and of the street development for the general public to meet. The community has ample finan- 
cial ability to do its part without placing undue burdens upon the people. Paris had not 
much more than half a million people, and her commercial prospects were far less than are ours 
to-day, when that municipality adopted a street improvement scheme involving over two hundred 
and sixty million dollars, and carried it to completion in thirty-five years. The motive of the 
French people in undertaking this enterprise was to create a great attraction for all men: a city 
so delightful as to insure continuous prosperity to the inhabitants. The success of the undertak- 
ing has amply justified the pains and the expense. People from all over the world visit and 
linger in Paris. No matter where they make their money, they go there to spend it; and 
every proprietor and workman in Paris benefits by reason of that fact. Conditions in Chicago 
are such as to repel outsiders and drive away those who are free to go. The cream of our own 
earnings should be spent here, while the city should become a magnet, drawing to us those who 
wish to enjoy life. The change would mean prosperity, effective, certain, and forever continuous. 

If, therefore, the plan is a good one, its adoption and realization will produce for us conditions 
in which business enterprises can be carried on with the utmost economy, and with the certainty 
of successful issue, while we and our children can enjoy and improve life as we cannot now do. 
Then our own people will become home-keepers, and the stranger will seek our gates. 




CXLn. THE GREAT LAKES. 
From the group by Lorado Taft. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 



The following opinion, prepared by Walter L. Fisher, as counsel for the Plan Com- 
mittee of the Commercial Club, has been submitted to Edward J. Brundage, Corporation 
Counsel for the City of Chicago, Harry A. Lewis, County Attorney of Cook County, 
Benjamin F. Richolson, Attorney for the West Chicago Park Commissioners, Charles A. 
Churan, Attorney for the Commissioners of Lincoln Park, Robert Redfield, Attorney for 
the South Park Commissioners, to Edgar B. Tolman, Frank L. Shepard, Harry S. 
Mecartney, Frank Hamlin, and R. P. Hollett, who have been counsel for these official 
bodies, respectively, and to Milton J. Foreman, Member of the City Council of Chicago, 
and George A. Mason, Special Assessment Attorney for the City, all of whom concur in 
the conclusions and recommendations stated. William W. Case assisted in the preparation 
of the opinion. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 

By WALTER L. FISHER, of the Chicago Bar 

INTRODUCTORY 

The purpose of an inquiry into the legal aspects of the Plan of Chicago is to ascertain to what 
extent and in what manner the Plan can be carried out under the existing laws, to suggest such 
additional legislation as may be necessary or desirable, and to consider how far such legislation 
is controlled or prevented by existing constitutional provisions. It is gratifying to be able to state 
at the outset that the main structure of the Plan of Chicago is framed with due regard to the limi- 
tations imposed by law upon public enterprises, although important details cannot be carried into 
eflfect without some aid from the legislature. 

In considering the legal aspects of city planning in the United States, the first inquiry natu- 
rally relates to the limitations contained in the state and federal constitutions. Governmental 
powers in the United States, unlike those of many European countries, are defined by written 
constitutions, which would undoubtedly prevent the imitation here of some of the sweeping under- 
takings and arbitrary though effective methods of European city planning. European govern- 
ments have carried to a successful issue many wide-reaching reforms which could be undertaken 
in this country only with important modifications. It is these modifications with which we are 
chiefly concerned. A Prussian statute enacted in 1902 empowered the police authorities to pro- 
hibit advertising which was calculated to disfigure the landscape ; ' and a provision of the Prussian 
Code declares that no building shall be so erected as to disfigure cities and public places.- Regu- 
lations intended to maintain the suburban character of certain localities have been upheld in 
Prussia, in the absence of statute, as sanitary measures within the jurisdiction of the police authori- 
ties, and in other German cities they are authorized by law.' The State of Illinois, in attempting 
to follow such examples, would be obliged to reckon not only with that provision of her own con- 
stitution which forbids the taking of private property for public use without just compensation, 
but also with that other provision, found both in her own constitution and in that of the United 
States, which declares that no person shall be deprived of property without due process of law. 
In England, as long ago as 1862, the Metropolitan Local Management Act authorized the Board 
of Public Works to fix building lines to which all new buildings must conform, and to prohibit 
the erection of any house beyond the general line of buildings in any street in which the same is 
situated.* Compensation is allowed to any owner of property who can show himself to be 
injured by such restrictions upon the use of his land, but the parliamentary fiat determines 
forever that he must submit to the regulations thus imposed upon him. In this country the owner, 

' Freund on Police Power, sec. 182, note 5. 
' Freund on Police Power, sec. 181, note 50. 
' Freund on Police Power, sec. 181, note 50. 

'Statutes at Large, vol. 102, p. 730; see also subsequent Acts shown in Chitty's Statutes, vol. 8, "Metropolis" p. 253, and 
vol. 10, " Public Healtti " p. 53. 

127 



128 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

even if compensation were provided, could demand the judgment of a court whether the use for 
which his property was taken was a "public use," within the judicial definition of that phrase as 
found in our constitutions. In Illinois he could insist upon his further constitutional privilege of 
having his compensation fixed by a jury before the restriction became operative. The public 
authorities of Paris, when condemning land for municipal purposes, were authorized to and did 
take more extensive areas than were actually needed, seeking by this means to recoup the cost 
of the improvements by selling the adjacent premises at the enhanced values produced by these 
improvements. Indeed, the contractors for these public works were themselves authorized, in 
some cases, to acquire considerable areas outside the lines of the actual improvement, so that the 
prospective profits thus to be realized might be deducted from the cost of the improvement to the 
public' Governments in this country are forbidden by constitutional principles thus to take 
private property against the will of the owner merely for pecuniary profit. Many cities in Great 
Britain and on the continent have removed the entire population of insanitary districts and have 
constructed new dwellings, at public expense, in the renovated area. Such features figure largely 
in the town-planning schemes of Europe, but have been considered inexpedient or unnecessary 
here. The town-planning bill introduced in Parliament last year by John Burns not only confers 
power upon municipal authorities to impose a town-planning scheme on any land within or near 
their boundaries, but enables the authorities to take judgment against the owners of neighboring 
property for the amount by which its value is enhanced through the operation of the plan. Such 
methods of procedure, however justifiable from an economic point of view, would be contrary to 
established public policy in this country. The constitution of Illinois requires uniformity of taxa- 
tion with respect to both persons and property, and while it permits the cost of local improvements 
to be assessed by the authorities of cities, towns and villages upon property specially benefited 
thereby, it not only limits the aggregate amount of such special assessments to the cost of the 
improvement, but requires the distribution of that aggregate over all property similarly benefited. 

While, therefore, in every civilized country the makers of laws strive to protect private property 
and private rights from spoliation and abuse, it remains true that extensive municipal and govern- 
mental works are more quickly and easily executed in those parts of the world where the legisla- 
tive authorities have a free hand than they can be under a system of rigid constitutional restraints. 
Those vast projects which have created the modern city of Paris and are transforming London 
and many continental cities would necessarily follow different channels in this country; yet there 
is every reason to believe that the constitutional limitations which here determine the form of public 
improvements do not really prohibit any measures that in this country would be considered wise. 
It will be found that the restraints of the fundamental law under which we live do not forbid any 
of the steps recommended in the proposed Plan of Chicago, although in many important respects 
they do fix and control the manner in which, and the means by which, these steps can be taken. 
The state, and its agent, the municipal corporation, are fully empowered to protect and to promote 
the public welfare, and for that purpose have been vested with the three great functions of govern- 
ment known as the police power, the power of eminent domain, and the power of taxation, in one 
or another of which will be found adequate authority for the accomplishment of the Plan. 

The police power has been characterized by the Supreme Court of Illinois as "that inherent 
plenary power in the state which permits it to prohibit all things hurtful to the comfort, welfare 

' House Document No. 288, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Dec. 29, 1903, pp. 62 and 63, and citations there made from 
U Economiste Fran^ais. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 129 

and safety of society." ' Avoiding too rigid an exactness of definition, the courts have described 
it in terms which are said to be summed up in the statement that "the police power, in its broadest 
acceptation, means the general power of a government to preserve and promote the public welfare 
by prohibiting all things hurtful to the comfort, safety and welfare of society, and establishing such 
rules and regulations for the conduct of all persons, and the use and management of all property, 
as may be conducive to the public interest." ^ It is only under the police power that men can be 
required to submit to the destruction or appropriation of their property without monetary recom- 
pense for the loss.^ 

In the exercise of the power of eminent domain, the state may take private property, but only 
for a "public use" and only upon payment of just compensation. No man can, in this country, be 
required to surrender his property, even for full value, unless the use for which it is taken is public. 
The right assumed by some European governments to condemn large areas of land in order, by 
selling part of it, to defray the cost of improving the rest, would be subject in this country to the 
inquiry whether such a purpose is "public," within the meaning of that term as expounded by the 
courts. No judge grounded in the principles of American jurisprudence would countenance the 
argument that mere pecuniary advantage to a municipality could, without other pretext, justify 
the taking of private property against the will of the owner. It is quite another question, how- 
ever, whether the condemnation of more land than is directly involved may not be justified as an 
incident of a public improvement, when it could not be defended as an independent speculation. 

The last of the three governmental powers mentioned is the power of taxation. Like the 
power of eminent domain, it is inherent in every sovereign state, but no taxes can be levied for 
other than public purposes. They may be general, representing the tribute due from every person 
to the government which protects him; or special, measured or limited by the particular benefit 
accruing to his property from a local improvement. The cost of public works may be paid for 
outright from the proceeds of a single levy or assessment, or may be defrayed from the proceeds of 
bonds to be liquidated by annual contributions distributed over a term of years. The constitu- 
tion of Illinois requires provision to be made for paying all municipal bonds within twenty years, 
and limits the amount of indebtedness which any municipal body may incur to five per cent of 
the assessed value of taxable property therein ; but does not impose any general limitation upon 
the amount or rate of taxes which municipal bodies may be authorized to levy. 

Such is a brief characterization of the three functions of government upon which chiefly de- 
pends the execution of public enterprises in this country. The Plan of Chicago, now under consid- 
eration, embraces as its leading features the acquisition, maintenance, and control of parks, boule- 
vards and arteries of communication throughout the metropolitan territory tributary to Chicago; 
the establishment and control of similar parks, circuits and avenues within the city itself, and 
incidentally the reclamation of slums and congested areas; the embellishment of the shore of Lake 

' City oj Belleville v. Turnpike Co., 234 111. 42S, 437; City oj Chicago v. Gunning System, 214 III. 628, 635. 

■ 22 .\mer. & Eng. Encyc. of Law, 916. 

^ In the case of Chicago, Burlington &° Quincy Railway Co. v. People, 212 111. 103, 116, the Supreme Court quotes with approval 
the following language from the American and English Encyclopasdia of Law: 

"The police power is to be clearly distinguished from the right of eminent domain; and the distinction lies in this: that in the 
exercise of the latter right, private property is taken for public use and the owner is invariably entitled to compensation therefor, while / 
the police power is usually exerted merely to regulate the use and enjoyment of property by the owner, or, if he is deprived of his prop- 
erty outright, it is not taken for public use, but rather destroyed in order to promote the general welfare of the public, and in neither 
case is the owner entitled to any compensation for any injury which he may sustain in consequence thereof, for the law considers that 
either the injury is damnum absque injuria or the owner is sufficiently compensated by sharing in the general benefits resulting from 
the exercise of the police power." 

This decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States, 200 U. S. 561. 



I30 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

Michigan; the consolidation and rearrangement of freight and passenger terminals; and the 
creation of a Civic Center connected with other parts of the city by convenient avenues, and in or 
about which shall be grouped important public buildings which may hereafter be erected. 



OUTER PARKS, BOULEVARDS, AND CIRCUITS 

The outer belt of parks and forest preserves, the boulevards and highways connecting country 
towns with each other and with the city, and the extension of a driveway around the shore of Lake 
Michigan, involve relations with counties outside of Cook, and even with states beyond the borders 
of Illinois. It may safely be assumed, without specific inquiry, that the laws of Wisconsin and 
Indiana, if not already adequate to the performance of their share in the project, can easily be 
made so by the people of those states. 

In Illinois the existing laws are in the main sufficient for the needs of local communities which 
desire, by the exercise of their present taxing powers or the organization of park districts, to bear 
their part in a general scheme of improvement. The Act of June 19, 1893,' provides for the incor- 
poration of park districts to connect two or more cities or villages by means of boulevards or parks. 
A more comprehensive measure is the Act of June 24, 1895,- under which several park districts 
in Cook County, such as those at Winnetka, Kenilworth, Wilmette and Rogers Park, have been 
organized by vote of the people of those communities. A district formed under this act may 
acquire land for parks or boulevards by purchase or condemnation, and the board of park com- 
missioners may accept from any municipality in the district the control of any park or boulevard 
therein. Bonds may be issued up to three per cent of the assessed valuation of property in the 
district, and, in addition to taxes for the payment thereof, a general tax of four mills on the dollar 
may be collected. Special assessments for local improvements may be levied through the town- 
ship authorities. Districts bordering upon navigable bodies of water are empowered to reclaim 
submerged lands, and the title of the state is granted for that purpose to the park district to which 
such submerged land is adjacent. The park authorities could construct islands or driveways 
beyond the present water line. They would be required to recompense the owners of the shore for 
any loss or diminution of their riparian rights; but the benefits to the shore lands would doubtless 
in many, if not most, instances more than offset the cost of the property and property rights that 
would be taken or damaged for the improvement. 

Among local agencies which might co-operate in suburban development may be mentioned 
the townships. These have long exercised jurisdiction over country roads, and they were author- 
ized by two Acts of March 2, 1907,' to secure small parks by purchase or condemnation and upon 
vote of the people to issue bonds and levy taxes for that purpose. No park so established can be 
more than ten acres in extent. 

Such limited local authorities may prove serviceable auxiliaries to the main plan, but their 
powers are inadequate to the execution of the more general features of metropolitan development ; 
nor would it be just to impose on local tax-payers the entire burden of such improvements as the 
acquisition of extensive areas of park or woodland chiefly for the resort and recreation of the people 

' Hurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 1532. 
^ Hurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of igoS, p. 1546. 
' Hurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 1574-5. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 131 

of the city. These enterprises require the co-operation of a central body of more extensive powers 
and larger resources. 

In looking for instrumentalities through which such plans might be executed, the park legis- 
lation of Massachusetts claims first attention. The Metropolitan Park Commission, under whose 
auspices the city and suburban park system of Boston has been developed, was created by an act 
of the legislature of Massachusetts, approved June 3, 1893.' It consists of five members, appointed 
by the governor, and exercises jurisdiction over Boston and various other cities and towns which 
constitute the Metropolitan Parks District. The board has power to acquire and maintain open 
spaces, taking in fee or otherwise any land necessary for that purpose, and acting so far as may 
be in consultation with local boards. Any open space in a city or town may be turned over to the 
board by the local authorities. Subsequent acts empower the commission to construct roadways 
and boulevards, to purchase or condemn land for that purpose, and to assess property specially 
benefited thereby. The commissioners are authorized to abandon land which they have acquired, 
thereby revesting title in the original owner and reducing the damages which he might otherwise 
justly claim. Authority is also given to sell, at public or private sale, any lands or rights acquired 
and paid for. Property taken by the commission vests in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
and is to be paid for by state bonds extending over a term of not more than forty years. Taxes 
to meet the bonds are, however, apportioned among the cities and towns within the district, and 
a reapportionment is to be made once in five years. By an Act of March 17, 1903, the commission 
and the park officers in any city or town were empowered to make reasonable rules and regulations 
respecting the display of signs or advertisements visible from public parks and parkways; but the 
Supreme Court, in the case of Commonwealth v. Boston Advertising Co., 188 Mass. 348, held that 
this statute did not and could not confer upon the public authorities any power to prohibit the 
owners of land from leasing it for advertising purposes, unless just compensation were provided. 

The Metropolitan Park Commission is a creature of the state — not of the particular communi- 
ties directly affected — and over its fortunes the legislature has maintained a constant fostering 
care, extending and defining its jurisdiction by successive acts, and granting fresh financial powers 
as occasion arose. Local home rule is a political principle not so firmly established there as in Illi- 
nois. Here it would not be feasible to create a similar body by legislative fiat without the concur- 
ring vote of the people of the district over which its jurisdiction extended. Legislation designed for 
similar ends is more likely, in this state, to take the general form of enlargement of the powers and 
functions of the city and the county; or, especially if more than one county is involved, of the 
creation of a special commission endowed with extraordinary powers and similar in many of its 
features to the forest-preserve districts contemplated by the Act approved May 18, 1905.' 

This measure, which is entitled "An Act to provide for the creation of forest-preser\'e districts," 
authorizes the incorporation as a forest-preserve district of any area of contiguous territory con- 
taining one or more cities, towns, or villages within the same or adjoining counties. Such a dis- 
trict can only be organized by the affirmative vote of the inhabitants; and if it embraces parts of 
two counties, there must be a favorable vote in each. The affairs of the district are to be managed 
by a president and six commissioners, appointed by the governor and drawn from different political 
parties. The president alone receives a salary. The board is authorized to accept control of 
streets in any city, town, or village on request of the local authorities, and to designate existing 
streets and roads as pleasure driveways, and lay out and establish others for that purpose; but 

' Acts of 1893, chap. 407. ' Kurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 11 29. 



132 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

none of these is to be within any public park district. Power is given to acquire, by gift, purchase, 
or condemnation, any land not already in a park district for driveways and forest preserves. Bonds 
may be issued to the amount of one per cent of the assessed value of all property in the district, 
and this amount may be increased by a vote of the people to three per cent. Authority is given 
to levy taxes for the payment of bonds and interest thereon, and also to levy for general purposes 
an additional tax not exceeding one mill on the dollar. 

An attempt was made under this act to organize as a forest-preserve district all of Cook 
County, except a few towns in the extreme north and south ends thereof. It received a majority 
of the votes cast on the proposition, but not a majority of those cast at the regular election held 
on the same day. This has left some doubt as to the legal effect of the vote. The result was 
largely due to indifference and to the creation of a new taxing body with what were regarded by 
many as unnecessarily extensive powers. A committee of the legislature was appointed to report 
a revised act more consonant with the wishes of the people. Among the changes which have 
been suggested are that each district shall be confined to a single county; that the members of 
the commission shall be appointed by the president of the county board; and that taxes for the 
purposes contemplated by the act shall not be levied by the district authorities themselves but 
by the board of county commissioners. The proposed forest-preserve districts are essentially 
park districts, though called by a different name; and the main objects of this act might be 
accomplished by creating a forest-preserve commission as a department of the county govern- 
ment, under appropriate legislation — a method certainly less open to attack from a legal point 
of view than the one embodied in the Forest- Preserve Act of 1905.' 

Counties in Illinois have under existing law no general powers which would enable them 
to take a prominent part in plans for the development of the metropolitan district of Chicago; 
but it would be competent for the legislature to invest them with more extensive functions. There 
is in the constitution no limit upon the amount of county taxes which may be voted by the people; 
and county bonds, when authorized by popular vote, may be issued for any authorized county 
purpose up to the constitutional limit of five per cent of the assessed value of taxable property 
in the county. 

In an inventory of the agencies which might be capable of sharing in the creation of outer 
parks and boulevards, mention should not be omitted of a Greater City of Chicago, which might 
be invested by the legislature with power to purchase or condemn land far beyond its own cor- 
porate limits in order to establish a system of parks and boulevards commensurate with the needs 
of its inhabitants.^ Some doubt has been suggested as to the constitutionality of such a grant of 
power if attempted under the so-called Chicago charter amendment to the state constitution,' 
which authorizes "a special charter of local municipal government for the territory now or here- 
after embraced within the limits of the city of Chicago." The effective policing by the city of 
parks and boulevards outside the city limits would present practical difficulties, and the plan would 
impose upon the city the entire cost of improvements in the advantages of which the suburban 
districts in which these improvements were located would share. If all of the people and 
property benefited are to bear their proportionate share of the expense, the proposed system of 

'See Russell v. High School Board, 212 III., 327. 

^ House bill No. 350, introduced in the Illinois legislature, March 23, 1909, provides (Art. IV, Sec. 9) that " the city shall have 
power to acquire, by dedication, gift, purchase, or condemnation, lands or easements inside or outside of the city limits, for park pur- 
poses, and for ways connecting parks with the city or with each other." 

' Constitution of Illinois, Art. IV, Sec. 34. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 133 

outer parks and boulevards should be acquired and controlled by the county or by a new 
municipal body. 

CITY PARKS, SQUARES, BOULEVARDS, AND AVENUES 

The existing municipal corporations that might be authorized to bear a part in realizing 
the Plan within the city limits are the city of Chicago, the county of Cook, and the several park 
boards. Any participation by the Sanitary District, as by bridging its canals or improving the 
appearance of their banks, would be incidental. 

City councils are empowered by Article V of the City and Village Act of 1872 to lay out, estab- 
lish, open, widen, pave, and otherwise improve streets, alleys, avenues, parks, and public grounds, 
and to plant trees upon and regulate the use of the same.' In the case of Thompson v. Highland 
Park, 187 111. 265, the court sustained the power of the city to include parkways and grass plots 
in the improvement of a street to be paid for by special assessment. The special Act of May 18, 
1905,- relating to the city of Chicago only, confers upon the council power to accjuire, by purchase 
or otherwise, municipal parks and playgrounds, and declares that the city may exercise the right 
of eminent domain for the acquirement of property useful, advantageous, or desirable for muni- 
cipal purposes; and that the procedure in such cases shall be, as nearly as may be, like that 
provided for in the Act of June 14, 1897, concerning local improvements as amended or to be 
amended. Land taken for a park is ''property useful, advantageous, or desirable for municipal 
purposes," and a public park is a "local improvement," the cost of which may be assessed upon 
contiguous property to the extent of the special benefits when the legislature authorizes that course 
to be pursued.' The "Act concerning local improvements" * directs the city council to provide, 
in any ordinance for a local improvement, whether it shall be made by special assessment or 
special taxation, or by general taxation, or otherwise; and, in sections 13 to 1,2,, inclusive, defines 
the procedure for ascertaining the compensation to be paid for private property taken or dam- 
aged, and for assessing the cost on other property to the extent to which it is specially benefited. 
The city, therefore, already possesses power to acquire public parks within the city limits and 
to assess the cost, or the greater part thereof, against property in the neighborhood of the im- 
provement. Under the present law all ordinances for local improvements in the city, to be paid 
for wholly or in part by special assessment or special taxation, must originate with the board of 
local improvements; but if the park boards were merged in the city government, it might be 
feasible to grant to an administrative department of parks the initiative with respect to local 
improvements within their special jurisdiction.^ The city authorities have now ample power, to 
the extent of their financial resources, to improve and widen existing streets and to open new 
streets, parks and public grounds. The city council has adequate discretion to determine how 
wide any street shall be, and whether it shall be devoted entirely to travel or given up partly to 
lawns, trees, and parkways. 

' Hurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 316. 

' Hurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 336. 

'Shoemaker v. Uniled States, 147 U. S. 282; Dunham v. People, 96 111. 331; People v. Brislin, 80 III. 423. 

^ Hurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of igoS, p. 421. 

' House bill No. 350, Illinois, 1909, already mentioned, which contemplates the merger of the park boards in the city govern- 
ment, provides (.^rt. IV, Sec. 19) as follows: "The provision of the statutes governing the making of local improvements in the city 
shall be as nearly as possible applied to the proceedings for the taking of lands and the meeting of the expenses in connection with 
such improvements, except that the board of park commissioners shall act in place of the board of local improvements." 



134 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

It is highly important that the city should be able effectively to control the traffic on streets 
and boulevards, and especially to keep designated residence streets free from heavy teaming or 
particular kinds of traffic (such as through teaming, not going to or from property fronting on the 
particular street), without formally turning such streets over to park authorities as boulevards. 
This power may be given by the 96th paragraph of Section i of Article V of the statute in relation 
to cities, villages, and towns,' which authorizes the city council to "direct, license, and control all 
wagons and other vehicles conveying loads within the city, or any particular class of such wagons 
or other vehicles." If more specific authority is required, it should be obtained from the 
legislature. The streets are held by the city in trust for the general public and cannot be 
diverted from that purpose by the city without special authority.' The legislature, however, 
as representative of the public, has control over them, and may limit the public right to 
make free use of streets; as it actually has done in the statute authorizing the wheel tax.' It 
may authorize municipal authorities to designate certain streets as pleasure driveways, to the 
exclusion of heavy traffic,' or to turn over any of its streets to park boards for boulevard and drive- 
way purposes;^ but the city cannot, without legislative authority, divest itself of the control of a 
street nor restrict the public in the reasonable use and enjoyment thereof." General authority 
has been conferred upon city councils to regulate the use of streets, but this provision of the statute 
cannot safely be relied upon as an unqualified delegation of power to set aside some streets 
for exclusive use as pleasure driveways, since the Act of March 27, 1889,' expressly empowers 
the municipal authorities of a city or village to select for that purpose not more than two streets 
within the corporate limits. This doubt the legislature should be asked to set at rest. 

The narrow scope of the powers of Cook County has already been commented upon. While 
counties could not, under the present constitution, be authorized to pay for improvements by 
special assessment, the general assembly might empower the county board to purchase or con- 
demn land within or without the city limits for parks or other public uses, the cost to be paid from 
the proceeds of any bond issues which the people might see fit to vote within the five per cent 
limit of indebtedness. A park commission or forest-preserve commission, established as an 
administrative department of the county government, would be an appropriate agency for carry- 
ing out these objects. 

The only park authorities now exercising any considerable jurisdiction within the city limits 
are the South Park Commissioners, the West Chicago Park Commissioners and the 
Commissioners of Lincoln Park, all of which were incorporated by the legislature in the year 
1869 for the purpose of acquiring certain specific parks and boulevards. They have received 
additional powers from time to time. The West Chicago Park Commissioners, within whose 
jurisdiction the proposed Civic Center would lie, were authorized by the Act of 1869 to purchase 
or condemn the land described therein, and to levy special assessments for that purpose. The 
Act of April 9, 1879,* as amended, gives every board of park commissioners power to connect 
its parks or boulevards with any part of a city, town, or village by taking any appropriate street 

' Hurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 321. 

^ Kreigh v. Chicago, 86 III. 407. 

' Harder' s Storage Co. v. Chicago, 235 111. 58. 

* Cicero Lumber Co. v. Cicero, 176 111. 9; Brodbine v. Revere, 182 Mass. 598. 

^People V. Walsh, 96 111. 232. 

' Ligare v. City oj Chicago, 139 111. 46; Smith v. McDowell, 148 111. 51. 

' Hurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 408. 

'Kurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 1518. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 135 

with the consent of the corporate authorities and of the owners of a majority of the frontage. In 
1885 parlv boards were authorized to accept from municipal authorities any parks under their 
control.' The Act of May 10, 1901,' empowers every park board to acquire, by purchase or 
condemnation, as many small parks, not exceeding ten acres each, as it desires and can pay for. 

By the Act of March 4, 1907,^ even more extensive powers are conferred upon the commis- 
sioners of every public park district appointed or selected pursuant to any act which has been 
or may be submitted to the legal voters of such park district and by them adopted. Full power 
is given to purchase or condemn any land for the establishment of new parks or the extension of 
old parks, and, by vote of the people, to issue bonds to any desired amount within the constitu- 
tional limit. This act materially increases the powers of the boards to which it applies. The 
West Park board is within its terms; and may, upon favorable vote of the people of the district, 
bond itself up to the constitutional limit; and it can probably also levy special assessments under 
authority of the Act of June 24, 1895,* to pay for property condemned for park purposes. 

Land for the proposed Civic Center might be acquired through any one of several agencies. 
The city of Chicago, if financially able, could purchase the necessary area, or condemn it and 
assess back part of the expense on real estate in the vicinity. Any portion of the cost not raised 
by special assessment would have to be defrayed from the proceeds of bonds, which, under the 
constitution, must be redeemable within twenty years, and must not increase the indebtedness 
of the city beyond five per cent of the assessed value of property therein. Additional borrowing 
powers may be conferred upon the city through consolidation of various local authorities with 
the city under the so-called charter amendment to the state constitution, or through a change in 
the statutory method of fLxing the assessed valuation of property. Appropriate legislation should 
be enacted at once in order to make land thus acquired available not only for city buildings or 
park purposes, but for the location of the buildings of other public bodies, upon financial and 
other terms to be fixed by negotiation with the city.^ 

The county of Cook, though now lacking the necessary powers, might be authorized by 
the legislature to acquire, with the proceeds of a bond issue, the requisite area for the Civic Center, 
and to make appropriate arrangements for the location therein of federal and city buildings and 
other public edifices. 

The West Park board might well be asked to treat the Civic Center as a legitimate object 
for the exercise of its functions, and with that end in view it should be invested by the legislature 
with powers adeciuate to the immediate acquisition of the land embraced in the proposed Civic 
Center, and should be authorized to arrange appropriate terms for the future occupation of part 
of the area by the buUdings of other governmental and public bodies; among which terms might 
be the reimbursement of part of the original cost. 

' Kurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 1521. 

' Kurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1890, p. 1360. 

' Kurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of igo8, p. 1569. 

* Kurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of igoS, p. 1544. 

'House Bill No. 350, Illinois, 1909, already mentioned, contains the following provision: "Art. IV, Sec. 14. The city shall 
have authority to acquire and hold lands for the erection and maintenance thereon of public buildings of the city and for public 
grounds surrounding such buildings or connected therewith, and shall have the right to permit buildings of the County of Cook, the 
State of Illinois, the United States of America or other governmental or public bodies to be erected and maintained on such lands and 
grounds upon such terms and conditions as the city council may prescribe. Subject to such use, the board of park commissioners shall, 
when directed by the city council, have the same power to manage and control, improve, maintain, and beautify such lands and grounds, 
as is in this .\ct conferred upon said board with respect to parks; and for any of the purposes hereinbefore in this section specified, 
the city may acquire or dispose of the title to or rights in lands or rights or easements in or over lands abutting on or in the vicinity 
of such lands or public grounds in like manner and to like extent as in this Act provided with respect to parks." 



136 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

Among the agencies which might be created to carry out this and other features of the Plan 
should, perhaps, be mentioned a municipal corporation organized along the lines indicated by 
the forest-preserve legislation already alluded to. The Act of 1905 ' permitted cities and villages 
to be included in a forest-preserve district, and the city of Chicago was included within the bound- 
aries of the proposed district the creation of which was submitted to popular vote. Section 6 of 
that act, providing for the designation of streets as pleasure driveways, specified that none of 
them should fall within any park district, and that no preserves should be within the limits of a 
park district. The legislature may have power to eliminate such restrictions, and to sanction 
the incorporation of a metropolitan board capable of exercising all the powers of a park commis- 
sion within and without the city limits. 

With reference to the proposed boulevard link on Michigan Avenue, connecting the north 
and south sides, it is to be borne in mind that the city under its general powers can enlarge Mich- 
igan Avenue to any desired width and can alter the grade of the whole or any portion of the street. 
There were, however, passed by the legislature May 25, 1907, four acts which were designed to 
facilitate the construction of this boulevard link. It was in contemplation at that time that the 
South Park and Lincoln Park boards would do part of the work and defray part of the expense, 
and that the city would meet the balance of the cost by annual appropriations extending over a 
series of years. 

The first of these four acts - was designed to enable the South Park board to contribute 
such part of the expense as to it might seem best. This bill provides that the corporate author- 
ities of any public park district having control of any park in a city wherein other park districts 
and parks are situated, but not connected therewith by any boulevard or driveway or other park 
thoroughfare, may from time to time in their discretion issue and sell additional bonds, not ex- 
ceeding the five per cent limitation, in order to defray the expense of connecting any park under 
their control with any other public park or parks by means of a boulevard and driveway in the 
city, and altering and improving any connection or connections between such parks. Such bonds 
must, however, be authorized by the voters of the park district at an election. 

By the second act,^ the Lincoln Park board is authorized to issue, upon a favorable vote 
of the electors of the district, bonds not exceeding $1,000,000 for the purpose of constructing 
surface and elevated boulevards and the approaches thereto over or along streets and alleys, when 
authorized to do so by any city having control thereof. 

The other two acts referred to were passed in order to dispel any doubt about the power 
of municipalities to erect an elevated structure in a public street. One^ empowers any city to 
grant, by ordinance, to any board having jurisdiction over parks and boulevards the right to take 
and improve, by means of surface or elevated ways, a street not more than one mile in length, 
with all convenient or necessary approaches, inclines, and superstructures; while the other ^ 
confers power upon any city to construct and maintain an elevated way in any street, with all 
necessary approaches, inclines, and superstructures, and to authorize any commission or board 
having jurisdiction of a public park to take over, maintain, and control, upon terms fixed by or- 
dinance, any street and any incline, approach, or superstructure therein. 

' Kurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 190S, p. 11 29. 
■ Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1570. 
^ Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1572. 
^ Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1577. 
' Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1578. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 137 

An alternative method of constructing a surface or elevated boulevard link would be found 
in a proceeding by the city under the Local Improvement Act. The city has ample power to con- 
demn property for widening the street and to assess the land damages against all property spec- 
ially benefited thereby. Having thus added contiguous property to the street as a part thereof, 
the city could, under the enabling act already alluded to, if not under its general powers, con- 
struct the proposed improvement. It must be borne in mind, however, that even if the method 
of special assessment were resorted to in order to defray the cost, a substantial percentage of that 
cost would, no doubt, be designated by the court to be paid by the city as public benefits. 



LAKE SHORE DEVELOPMENT 

The treatment of the shore of Lake Michigan within the city limits involves comparatively 
little difficulty from a legal point of view. Ample legislation has been provided under which the 
Lincoln Park and South Park boards can extend their driveways and parks over the bed of Lake 
Michigan, subject to the consent of the Secretary of War. An Act of May 14, 1903,' expressly 
confers upon every board of park commissioners having control of any park, boulevard, or drive- 
way bordering upon any public waters in the state the power to extend the same over the bed of 
such waters, and to connect two parks under their control by a boulevard or driveway over the 
bed of the water. Private riparian rights or titles may for such purpose be acquired by contract 
with or deeds from the owners, and may be paid for out of the general revenues of the park board. 
By Section 4, the title of the state to the submerged lands between the shore and the boulevard or 
parkway — in other words, the bed of the inten^ening lagoon — is granted to the board of park 
commissioners. Several other statutes on this subject were enacted on the same date. One 
authorizes the South Park Commissioners to extend any park under their control out into the 
lake over the adjacent submerged lands ;^ another conveys to the South Park Commissioners 
Grant Park from Randolph Street to Park Row, together with the submerged lands lying between 
those streets extended east to the harbor line established by the Secretary of War; ^ another grants 
to the South Park Commissioners title to all submerged and artificial lands between the south 
boundary' of Jackson Park and the south line of Seventy-ninth Street extended one thousand feet 
into Lake Michigan, and to the land included within a triangle formed by the shore of Lake Michi- 
gan, the extension of Ninety-fifth Street and the extension of the state boundary line.^ 

This legislation did not authorize the condemnation of riparian rights, but only the acquisi- 
tion of such rights by negotiation. To facilitate settlement, an Act passed May 2, 1907,° em- 
powered the park commissioners, with the approval of the Circuit Court, to agree with the riparian 
owners upon a boundary line between the public park and the private shore lands, and to convey 
to the riparian owners all submerged land lying inside of the boundary line thus fixed by agreement ; 
in other words, the park board, having received from the state a grant of its title to the bed of the 
lake, is authorized to sell and convey to the shore owners so much thereof as may be necessary to 
induce them to release their riparian rights. If any shore land is owned by persons who are in- 
competent to contract or who are unknown, the power is given to condemn their riparian rights, 

' Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1562. 
' Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1563. 
' Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1564. 
' Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1565. 
'Kurd's Statutes, edition of 190S, p. 1570. 



138 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

pursuant to the provisions of the statute of eminent domain. That power should not be limited 
to the lands of unknown or legally incompetent owners. Under this legislation, the park board 
has power to build a boulevard far out into the lake and to settle with the riparian owners by con- 
veying to them as wide a strip of the submerged lands as may be deemed expedient ; and the shore 
owners will then have the right to fill in such submerged strip, thus adding extensive areas of valu- 
able shore land to their present holdings. The constitutionality of this legislation is virtually 
settled by the case of People v. Kirk, 162 111. 138, sustaining a similar arrangement between the 
Lincoln Park board and the proprietors of the shore south of Oak Street. The Lincoln Park 
board has been given power to condemn shore lands and riparian rights under an amendment of 
Section 2 of an act passed June 15, 1895, and court proceedings are authorized for the establish- 
ment of the boundary line between the park lands and the lands of private owners.' 

The right of the state to authorize structures which might interfere with navigation is sub- 
ordinate to the paramount control of the War Department of the United States; and the improve- 
ments contemplated by the legislation last described cannot be carried out without the consent 
of the Secretary of War. Proceedings looking to a grant of such consent were temporarily stayed 
by the remonstrance of Mayor Busse, and the appointment by him, under authority of the city 
council, of the Chicago Harbor Commission, which has made a comprehensive study and detailed 
report on the harbors of the city, together with recommendations as to harbor, railway terminal, 
and park plans along that part of the shore of Lake Michigan between Twelfth Street and Jackson 
Park. The report is entirely favorable to the essential features of the plan for park and boule- 
vard development on the Lake Front, but with appropriate reservations for future harbor develop- 
ment. It strongly favors the accomplishment of such plans at the earliest possible moment, 
stating that "there is no real conflict between the harbor and the park interests of Chicago and 
no artificial or unnecessary discord should be permitted to retard the complete and prompt exe- 
cution of the plans necessary for the development of both sides of the city's life." It recommends 
that " a detailed plan carrying out this idea should be worked out jointly by the experts of the 
park authorities and an expert engineer appointed by the city, subject to the approval of the city 
council and the South Park Commissioners," and urges immediate action by these authorities. 
As soon as such a plan can be worked out and the consent of the War Department be secured, 
there is nothing but the question of ways and means to delay the execution of this plan. The 
legislature has already authorized the South Park board, upon obtaining authority from the 
people at an election, to issue bonds up to the constitutional limit for the construction of the Lake 
Front Park.^ * 

' Kurd's Statutes, edition of 1908, p. 1540. 

- House Bill No. 352, introduced in the Illinois legislature on March 23, 1909, proposes to confer on the city complete legal power 
to create harbors and provides as follows: "Sec. 14. For the purpose of acquiring or constructing wharves, docks, levees, or in con- 
nection with such wharves, docks, or levees, elevators, warehouses, vaults or necessary or appropriate tracks or terminal facilities, the 
city may reclaim the submerged lands under any public waters within the jurisdiction of or bordering upon the City of Chicago, and 
shall thereupon be vested with the absolute title, in fee simple, to the lands so reclaimed; and for any of the purposes aforesaid the 
city may acquire, by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, the title of the private or public owners, if any there be, to lands lying be- 
neath such public waters and to any lands penetrating into or abutting on such public waters, and also the riparian or other rights, if 
any there be, of the owners of the shore lands abutting on such public waters in or over such public waters or the submerged lands 
under such waters. The city and the owner or owners of any such abutting lands or riparian or other rights are hereby authorized to 
agree upon a division of the said submerged lands between the said city and the said owners, and upon a boundary line dividing the 
submerged lands acquired or to be acquired by said city, and the submerged lands to be taken, owned and used by said owners in 
lieu of and as compensation for the release or transfer of such riparian or other rights to said city; subject, however, to the requirement 
that in all cases in which said city shall have agreed upon any such division, the said city shall file a petition or petitions in chancery 
and obtain a decree of court thereon, in like manner as is provided with respect to boards of park commissioners in and by a statute 
of the State of Illinois entitled, 'An Act authorizing park commissioners to acquire and improve submerged and shore lands for park 
purposes, providing for the payment therefor, and granting unto such commissioners certain rights and powers and to riparian owners 
certain rights and titles,' approved May 2, 1907." 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 139 



TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 

The readjustment of freight and passenger traffic and the relocation of railroad terminals is 
a subject which requires little comment from a legal point of view. When railway companies are 
brought to the point of hearty co-operation with the Chicago Plan, the powers which they already 
enjoy will be found adequate to the execution of their part. The state has placed at their service 
all necessary powers of eminent domain, and those portions of streets and alleys required for rail- 
way terminals may be vacated by the city. Although the action of the city council in vacating 
streets to make room for a railway station has been attacked, it has been sustained by the lower 
courts. 

It may be that the legislature should be asked to confer upon the city additional powers that 
would enable it to acquire property for railway terminals and appropriate connections to be used 
by the various transportation lines on just terms. A city cannot condemn land for the purpose 
of turning it over to a railway corporation, but there can be little doubt of the power of the legis- 
lature to authorize a city to condemn land in order to create a central clearing place for traffic. 
Chapter 247 of the Acts of the legislature of Wisconsin for the year 1907 is an example of a law 
designed for that end. This statute authorizes cities of the first class to acquire, establish, own 
and operate railway terminals, and to condemn land for that purpose. Having established such 
a terminal, the city may permit any railroad corporation to use it upon agreed terms, or, if the 
parties cannot agree, then upon terms to be fixed by the state raihroad commission. To meet 
the first cost, the city is authorized to issue "railway terminal certificates," payable only out of the 
revenues derived from the terminals for the acquisition of which they are issued. These certifi- 
cates may be secured by trust deed, and there are provisions for foreclosure similar in many 
respects to those contained in the so-called "Mueller Law" enacted by the legislature of Illinois, 
authorizing municipal ownership of street railways. Under the decision of the Supreme Court of 
Illinois,' such certificates would constitute "indebtedness" of the city, and the amount which 
could be issued at any time would be controlled by the constitutional limitation of municipal 
indebtedness. That municipal certificates or bonds secured by revenue-producing utilities and 
not made a charge upon the other property or general credit of the city should be exempted from 
the general constitutional debt limit is advocated by men of widely different opinions upon the 
public-utility question,- and is provided in various state constitutions.' Constitutional amend- 
ments to this effect are being proposed in New York and elsewhere. 



CONTROL OF LANDS ADJACENT TO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS 

In order to secure the full benefit of a park, boulevard, avenue or other place of public recrea- 
tion or resort, some control of the immediate surroundings is indispensable. The municipal 
authorities which establish parks, boulevards, and other public places need some power to regu- 
late the use of premises within immediate view of the public grounds, so as to prevent offensive 

' Lobdell V. Chicago, 227 III. 218 

'See Report of National Civic Federation Commission on Public Ownership and Operation, Part i, Vol. i, p. 25. 
' Digest of City Charters, prepared for Chicago Charter Convention, pp. 25, 26. 



I40 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

advertising, restrict the kinds of business, if any, to be conducted thereon, and make appropriate 
regulation of the height, manner of construction, and location of the surrounding buildings. To 
that end, resort must be had either to the police power or to the power of eminent domain. 

The police power of the state is not available for merely aesthetic purposes, and is quite inade- 
quate to the solution of this special problem. Owners of land, under existing constitutional limi- 
tations, can with impunity lease to advertising companies the right to erect safely constructed bill- 
boards and paint the sides and roofs of barns with any advertisements not injurious to morals or 
contrary to public decency ; nor can vulgarities which merely offend the sight and shock tempera- 
mental susceptibilities be construed as breaches of decency. "It is believed," says a writer in the 
Harvard Law Review,' "that both on theoretical and practical grounds the law must be taken 
as settled that, although public aesthetic ends may be effectuated by statute or ordinance through 
the exercise of eminent domain, the same object may not be accomplished by legislation under 
the police power without compensation." 

In the case of Chicago v. Gunning System, 214 111. 628, the Supreme Court of Illinois de- 
clared that the legislature, by conferring authority upon the city council to abate nuisances and 
enforce police ordinances, had given that body ample power to regulate, within reasonable limits, 
the construction of billboards upon private property; but the court nevertheless condemned a 
particular ordinance for the reason, among others, that the purpose of certain sections seemed 
"to be mainly sentimental and to prevent sights which maybe offensive to the aesthetic sensibil- 
ities of certain individuals residing in or passing tlirough the vicinity of the billboards." 

A broader control may, however, be exerted under the power of eminent domain. It is 
possibly within the capacity of the legislature to authorize park boards or other governmental 
bodies to acquire by condemnation proceedings, upon payment of compensation, the right, even 
in country districts, to restrict the use of all land within view of a driveway or park; but the exer- 
cise of that power with respect to property which does not actually front on the park or driveway 
scarcely falls within the domain of practical consideration in connection with the present Plan. 

Nearer the center of urban population, where the billboard nuisance is even more aggravated, 
the city is now the only eflfective repository of the police power. The county is not at present a 
factor in the problem; and park boards, while they have adequate police jurisdiction in their own 
territory, have none outside. It is competent for the city council, in the exercise of the police 
power, to regulate the construction of advertising signs for the protection of public decency or 
public safety by reasonable ordinances, but not to prohibit them altogether, nor restrict their size, 
construction, or location more than is reasonably necessary to keep them within the limit of safety; 
nor could land abutting upon parks and boulevards be subjected to substantially different regu- 
lations in this respect from those imposed upon property fronting on business streets. In the 
case of Chicago v. Qimning System, already adverted to, a provision forbidding the erection of 
billboards on residence streets without the consent of residents in the block was condemned by 
the court as "an arbitrary restriction on the part of the city, depriving an individual property 
owner of the use of his property as he may choose, without any showing that such use would be 
injurious to others in the same vicinity." The city council cannot condemn as a nuisance what 
the law adjudges not to be a nuisance. In order, therefore, to control offensive advertising by 
such regulations as the city ought to have power to impose, resort must be had to some other func- 
tion of government than the poHce power. 

' Vol. XX, p. 43 



LEGALASPECTSOFTHEPLAN 141 

The construction of buildings is also subject to some regulation under the police power. The 
city is vested with authority to prescribe the strength and manner of constructing buildings, to 
define fire limits, and to pass and enforce all necessary police ordinances; and the power con- 
ferred upon it to pass "all necessary police ordinances" is construed as delegating to the city all 
the appropriate police power of the state.' No question is made but that the city council has 
power to regulate the height of buildings with a view to health and public safety; but it may be 
doubted whether the police power would justify the municipal authorities in imposing more 
rigorous restrictions upon the character of buildings to be constructed along boulevards and 
around parks than in other parts of the city. The Supreme Judicial Court of ^lassachusetts 
has sustained the right of the legislature to delegate to a city the power to regulate the height of 
buildings, to prescribe different regulations for different districts, and to invest a commission with 
the right to determine the boundaries between such districts,^ and has expressed the opinion 
that certain special regulations of the height of buildings around a public square might be imposed 
under the police power without making compensation.^ It is doubtful whether local distinctions 
of this character would be sustained in Chicago under existing legislation, except in so far as they 
might be justified by the power to establish fire limits. The legislature might delegate to city 
councils the power to district the city and prescribe different building limits in different districts; 
but any distinctions of this sort would have to rest upon real differences, and it remains doubtful 
whether the police power could be invoked to justify making a special district of the area surround- 
ing a public square or avenue. The council could not be invested with authority to establish 
building hnes without awarding compensation to the owner; * nor could the legislature confer the 
right to regulate arbitrarily the character of the business to be conducted in premises abutting on 
a boulevard.^ A business which is an actual nuisance may be prohibited altogether; and the 
legal machinery exists for excluding saloons and some other kinds of business from limited areas. 
Such exercise of the police power must, however, bear some reasonable relation to the public 
health, safety, or morals, and could not, under existing constitutional restraints, be extended to 
business in general. 

Such being the limits of the police power, it is evident that, in order to secure any effective 
control of the environs of a public place, resort must be had to some authority of wider scope, and 
the only available power is that of eminent domain, under which the state and its agencies have the 
right to take any private property for a public use, upon providing just compensation. The areas 
adjacent to a public place could probably be controlled under this power, either by condemning 
them outright as a part of the improvement, or by condemning merely a qualified right to regulate 
and control them. If they were taken outright, the question would arise whether they could be 
resold subject to the necessary restrictions upon their future use; thus reducing the cost of the 
improvement to the extent of the increase in the value of this land caused by the improvement. 

The right to appropriate private property for public use is an attribute of sovereignty, exist- 
ing in the state independently of written constitutions, and vested in the general assembly by those 
provisions of the constitution which confer upon that body the legislative power of the state. In 
Illinois, as in all of the states, the power of the legislature to take private property for the use of 

' McPherson v. Village of Chebanse. 114 111. 46. 

' Welch V. Swasey, 193 Mass. 364. 

' Attorney General v. Willwms, 174 Mass. 476. 

* City oj St. Louis v. Hill, 116 Mo. 527; Chicago v. Gunning System, 214, 111. 62S. 

^City oj St. Louis v. Dorr, 145 Mo. 466. 



142 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

the community is subject to two constitutional limitations: one, that just compensation must be 
provided for all property so taken; the other, that private property cannot be taken, even upon 
payment of its full value, for any except a public use. These two restrictions are also imposed by 
the fourteenth amendment of the federal constitution, which declares that no state shall deprive 
any person of property without due process of law. Subject to these qualifications, the state has 
unlimited power to appropriate tlirough its legislature any property within its borders which has 
become the subject of private ownership; and this power of eminent domain the legislature may 
delegate, with or without restrictions, to any subordinate agency. The expediency of the exercise 
of that power in any given case is a subject over which the courts have no control, unless they 
can say that the proposed use is not public. On these general principles all the authorities are 
agreed. 

The United States Supreme Court has frequently stated the principles of the law of eminent 
domain. In Boom Company v. Patterson, 98 U. S. 403, Mr. Justice Field, in delivering the opinion 
of the court, said: 

"The right of eminent domain, that is, the right to take private property for public uses, appertains 
to every independent government. It requires no constitutional recognition: it is an attribute of sover- 
eignty. The clause found in the constitutions of the several states providing for just compensation for 
property taken is a mere limitation upon the exercise of the right. When the use is public, the necessity 
or expediency of appropriating any particular property is not a subject of judicial cognizance. The prop- 
erty may be appropriated by an act of the legislatiu-e, or the power of appropriating it may be delegated to 
private corporations, to be exercised by them in the execution of works in which the public is interested." 

Parks, boulevards, and places of recreation are now universally recognized as legitimate 
objects of public concern, for which the power of eminent domain may appropriately be exercised ; 
and it seems clear that if private property can be taken to create such utilities, it may also be taken 
for the purpose of realizing the full benefit of these works by adequate control of the surroundings. 
The legislature might at least authorize a city, park district, or other subordinate agency to exercise 
the power of eminent domain by imposing upon property in the neighborhood of a public place 
restrictions upon the location or character of the buildings to be erected, or the kinds of business, 
if any, to be conducted upon such adjacent land. It could not be successfully argued that such 
a use was not public. 

The conception of a public use must alter and expand with the development of civilization, 
and especially with the growth of cities. In sustaining an act of Congress providing for the con- 
demnation of land for a public park in the District of Columbia, and assessing part of the cost 
upon the property specially benefited, the Supreme Court, in the case of Shoemaker v. United 
States, 147 U. S. 282, 297, speaking through Mr. Justice Shiras, said: 

" In the memory of men now living, a proposition to take private property, without the consent of its 
owner, for a public park, and to assess a proportionate part of the cost upon real estate benefited thereby, 
would have been regarded as a novel exercise of legislative power. It is true that, in the case of many of 
the older cities and towns, there were common or public grounds, but the purpose of these was not to pro- 
vide places for exercise and recreation, but places on which the owners of domestic animals might pasture 
them in common, and they were generally laid out as part of the original plan of the town or city. It is 
said, in Johnson's Cyclopedia, that the Central Park of New York was the first place deliberately pro- 
vided for the inhabitants of any city or town in the United States for exclusive use as a pleasure ground for 
rest and exercise in the open air. However that may be, there is now scarcely a city of any considerable 
size in the entire country that does not have, or has not projected, such parks. The validity of the legis- 
lative acts erecting such parks, and providing for their cost, has been uniformly upheld." 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 143 

Again, in the case of Attorney General v. Williams, 174 Mass. 476, the Supreme Judicial 
Court of Massachusetts used the following language: 

"The uses which should be deemed public in reference to the right of the legislature to compel an in- 
dividual to part with his property for a compensation, and to authorize or direct taxation to pay for it, are 
being enlarged and extended with the progress of the people in education and refinement. Many things 
which a century ago were luxuries, or were altogether unknown, have now become necessaries. It is only 
within a few years that lands have been taken in this country for public parks. Now the right to take land 

for this purpose is generally recognized and frequently exercised The grounds on which public 

parks are desired are various. They are to be enjoyed by the people who use them. They are expected to 
minister not only to the grosser senses, but also to the love of the beautiful in nature, in the varied forms 
which the changing seasons bring. Their value is enhanced by such touches of art as help to produce 
pleasing and satisfactory effects on the emotional and spiritual side of our nature. Their influence should 
be uplifting, and, in the highest sense, educational. If wisely planned and properly cared for, they promote 
the mental as well as the physical health of the people. For this reason it has always been deemed proper 
to expend money in the care and adornment of them, to make them beautiful and enjoyable. Their 
aesthetic effect never has been thought unworthy of careful consideration by those best qualified to appreciate 
it. It hardly would be contended that the same reasons which justify the taking of land for a pulaiic park 
do not also justify the expenditure of money to make the park attractive and educational to those whose 
tastes are being formed, and whose love of beauty is being cultivated." 

When once it is conceded that a use is public, the courts have no control over the character 
of the estate or easement to be taken for the purpose. The constitution of Illinois provides, indeed, 
that when a railroad company condemns a right-of-way the fee shall remain in the former owner; 
but, subject to that restriction as to these particular corporations, the legislature has unlimited 
power to specify the nature, extent, and duration of the estate that shall be taken for any public 
use. Having the right to authorize the taking of an absolute title, it could direct the appropria- 
tion of any lesser interest, and could confer upon public bodies power to condemn the right to 
restrict the use and improvement of property contiguous to public grounds. 

It docs not appear, however, that the present statutes of Illinois do confer upon munici- 
palities any express power to condemn such easements over lands contiguous to a street, boulevard, 
park or other public place. In the legislation under which the West Chicago Park Commissioners 
were incorporated and organized, there were sections expressly directing the park commissioners 
to impose building lines upon property adjacent to the parks and boulevards authorized thereby, 
and in the condemnation proceedings compensation was to be included for this burden. The 
West Park board, however, never undertook to avail itself of these extensive powers, which were 
limited to the acquisition of the original parks and boulevards authorized by the act. It might 
be argued that the city, under its present authority to estabhsh and enlarge parks, boulevards, and 
streets, could condemn such easements directly, or that it could condemn a wide strip for a new 
street or land contiguous to an old street, and, by the familiar device of a stipulation entered of 
record in the condemnation suit, limit the appropriation to a restricted control of the use of the 
property. The latter method, if lawful, would be clumsy and inadequate, and additional leg- 
islation would be desirable to enable public authorities effectively to acquire, under the power 
of eminent domain, a qualified jurisdiction or control over property of which the exclusive use is 
not taken. 

Even such a law, however, would fall short of the public need. To give the city or other 
agency a free hand in controlling the environs of a public place, the authorities should be invested 
with power to acquire the actual title, and then to dispose of it subject to such restrictions as might 
be deemed expedient. This course offers the double advantage of giving the public agency abso- 



144 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

lute control of the future use and improvement of the surrounding property, and of enabling it, 
if the price of acquisition is not too great, to recoup in some measure the cost of the improvement 
by selling the residual title. A lot abutting on a park or boulevard might be worth much more 
after it had become part of a larger area subject to uniform building lines and restrictions than 
it was in its unencumbered condition; and the public authorities, by treating the whole improve- 
ment and its environment as a unit, might reap a pecuniary advantage which they could not 
have conferred upon individual owners even if they had desired to do so. An examination of 
the power of municipalities to take land in excess of physical requirements involves two questions: 
first, whether extra land can be taken merely for the purpose of selling it and defraying the cost of 
the improvement; and, second, whether, even if that right is denied, such land can be condemned 
and resold for the purpose of imposing upon it building or sanitary restrictions and limitations of use. 
As already stated, it may be accepted as elementary that neither the state, through its leg- 
islative department, nor any subordinate agency of the state can take a man's property against 
his will, under the power of eminent domain, merely for the purpose of giving it or selling it to 
another man. Such a taking would not be for public use and would violate the state and federal 
constitutions. It by no means follows, however, that a state agency, exercising the power of 
eminent domain, is always forbidden to derive profit from the sale of property not found to be 
actually needed. The activities of the Sanitary District of Chicago suffice to show how an area 
larger than is demanded by the ultimate needs of the public work may be acquired and converted 
into a source of revenue. A municipal corporation enjoys a large discretion in determining for 
itself how much land it needs for its public works, and courts will not ordinarily curb its freedom of 
action unless the exercise of the power of eminent domain is clearly excessive. If the city council 
saw fit to condemn a strip of land five hundred feet wide for an avenue or boulevard, the courts 
would have no right to question its decision unless, in the particular instance, there was some 
"manifest injustice, oppression or gross abuse of power";' nevertheless, if it did clearly appear 
as a fact that the ultimate object was to lay out an avenue only one hundred feet in width, the 
question would be squarely presented whether the margins on each side could be taken outright 
in order to govern their future use and development. 

In an early New York case, a legislative attempt to authorize the taking of more land than was 
actually needed was condemned by the court in the following language: 

"This power has been supposed to be convenient when the greater part of a lot is taken, and only a 
small part left not required for public use, and that small part of but httle value in the hands of the owner. 
In such case the corporation has been supposed best qualified to take and dispose of such parcels, or gores, 
as they have sometimes been called; and probably this assumption of power has been acquiesced in 
by the proprietors. I know of no case where the power has been questioned and where it has received the 
deliberate sanction of this court. Suppose a case where only a few feet or even inches are wanted from one 
end of a lot to widen a street, and a valuable building stands upon the other end of such lot, would the power 
be conceded to exist to take the whole lot, whether the owner consented or not? Or suppose the commis- 
sioners had deemed it expedient and proper in this case, in the language of the statute, to take the whole of 
the churchyard, the act would have been equally within the letter of the statute with their act in the present 
case ; and yet no one would suppose that the legislature ever intended to confer such a power. The quan- 
tity of the residue of any lot cannot vary the principle. The owner may be very unwilling to part with only 
a few feet; and I hold it equally incompetent for the legislature thus to dispose of private property, whether 
feet or acres are the subject of this assumed power. I am clearly of opinion that the commissioners have 
no right to take the strip of land in question against the consent of the corporation of Trinity Church."^ 

' Dunham v. Hyde Park, 75 111. 371. 
^ Matter oj Albany Street, 11 Wend. 148. 



LEGALASPECTSOFTHEPLAN " 145 

While there is a dearth of modern authority on this subject, it is believed that the courts would 
still accept the reasoning of this Albany Street case, and would sustain the position of an owner 
who refused to surrender his property in order merely to diminish the cost of a public improvement. 
Such enactments, however, though void as to an unwilling property owner, are valid in so far as 
they confer authority on the city to take and pay for the whole parcel with the owner's consent, 
and to spend the people's money for that purpose/ A plan for acquiring a large area by private 
purchase could not be successfully carried out if one or two of the proprietors could refuse to part 
with their property, and such a scheme must therefore be confined within the limits of the power 
of eminent domain. 

In order to justify the appropriation of a zone outside of the actual lines of the public space, 
it must appear that the property is to be made, in some sort, a part of the improvement; and that 
fact does appear when the control of the debatable zone is sought in order to save the environment 
of the public place from disfigurement or objectionable use. That end suffices to justify the con- 
demnation of some interest in the zone; and it is well established by the authorities that when the 
public good requires the appropriation of some interest, the legislature is sole judge of the par- 
ticular nature of the interest that shall be taken, and may, without being answerable to any court, 
declare that the interest to be taken shall be a fee simple absolute. A railway company does not 
require the title, or even the exclusive use, of its entire right-of-way; yet it is not doubted that, in 
the absence of a constitutional restriction, the legislature might authorize a railway company to 
take the entire title. In most states, the fee of a street remains in the owner of the property over 
which the street is laid out under the power of eminent domain ; yet there is no question but that 
the legislature has power to vest the fee in the city. The Supreme Court of Minnesota, in the 
case of Fairchild v. St. Paul, 46 Minn. 540, where the question was raised whether the city acquired 
through condemnation proceedings the actual title to the street or only an easement, stated the 
established principles of the law in the following language: 

"There is nothing better settled than that, the power of eminent domain being an incident of sover- 
eignty, the time, manner and occasion of its exercise are wholly in the control and discretion of the legis- 
lature, except as restrained by the constitution. It rests in the wisdom of the legislature to determine when 
and in what maimer the public necessities require its exercise; and with the reasonableness of the exercise 
of that discretion the courts will not interfere. As the legislature is the sole judge of the public necessity 
which requires or renders expedient the exercise of the power of eminent domain, so it is the exclusive judge 
of the amount of land, and of the estate in land, which the public end to be subserved requires to be 
taken. * * * 

"When the use is public, the necessity or expediency of appropriating any particular property is not 
a subject of judicial cognizance. Consequently, if in the legislative judgment it is expedient to do so, it has 
the power expressly to authorize a municipal corporation compulsorily to acquire the absolute fee simple to 
lands of private persons condemned for street or any other pubhc purpose. The authorities are so numer- 
ous and uniform to this effect that an extended citation of them is unnecessary. * * * It is often laid down 
as the law that the taking of property must always be limited to the necessity of the case, and, consequently, 
no more can be appropriated in any instance than is needed for the particular use for which the appropri- 
ation is made. But it will be foimd that this is almost invariably said, not in discussing the extent of the 
power of the legislature, but with reference to the construction of statutes granting authority to exercise the 
right of eminent domain, and where the authority to take a certain quantity of land or a particular estate 
therein depended, not upon an express grant of power to do so, but upon the existence of an alleged necessity, 
from which the disputed power is to be implied." 

The city of Brooklyn acquired land for public parks under a statute authorizing the acquisi- 

' Embury V. Conner, 3 N. Y. 511; Dorgaii v. Boston, 12 Allen, 223. 



146 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

tion of the title, and the court, in sustaining the validity of a subsequent act of the legislature 
authorizing the sale of portions of the land no longer needed, said: 

" Doubtless, in most cases, when land is condemned for a special purpose on the score of public utility, 
the sequestration is limited to that particular use. But this is where the property is not taken, but the use 
only. Then, the right of the public being limited to the use, when the use ceases the right ceases. Where 
the property is taken, the owner paid its true value, and the title vested in the public, it owns the whole 
property, and not merely the use; and though the particular use may be abandoned, the right to the prop- 
erty remains."' 

Land acquired for canal purposes has often been held to have vested absolutely in the state, 
so that upon abandonment of the canal the premises could be devoted to a diiJerent use or sold to 
a private purchaser.^ 

Some courts have intimated that land condemned for park purposes is presumptively dedi- 
cated to that use forever; and, hence, that authority to condemn for such a use implies authority 
to take the absolute title. Moreover, if a statute provided that land acquired for a public 
purpose could be sold when no longer needed, the implication would seem to be unavoidable 
that the title acquired under the statute was absolute. No general authority, however, has as 
yet been conferred upon municipalities in this state to take under the power of eminent domain a 
title that would survive the public use. 

Under appropriate legislation, then, a city could take the absolute fee to any property in 
which it required an interest for the public use. It is equally well settled that the legislature can 
authorize the sale of any such land when it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was 
acquired. The property, it is true, is held in trust for the public, but that trust could be relin- 
quished by authority of the legislature, which represents the public, and the property could then 
be sold ; and the authority to sell such surplus when no longer needed could be contained in the 
act authorizing the original condemnation. Of such a statute it was said in Matter of City of 
Rochester 137 N. Y. 243: 

"It is claimed that this provision is in conflict with the provisions of the constitution respecting the 
taking of private property for public use, as it in fact authorizes the city to take it for a purpose not public. 
We think the objection is without merit or substance. Of course, the city could not take private property 
for the purpose of selling it or dealing in it ; but, having once acquired it for a park, and it becoming, in the 
course of time, unnecessary or useless for that purpose, by the growth of the city or other changes in the sit- 
uation, a sale in the manner prescribed by the statute would be within the legitimate functions of the city as 
a municipal corporation, and power to that end, conferred by the legislature at any time, or in the act author- 
izing the taking, cannot invalidate the delegated right to exercise the power of eminent domain." 

The power of the municipality to sell superfluous land under the authority of such a statute 
could not be challenged at the time of sale. If the title had been acquired, it could be sold. The 
only question that could be raised would be one in the original condemnation proceeding as to the 
power to take the land at all. That question would be merely the question of good faith. The 
petitioner could be made to file plans showing some reasonable need for the property sought to be 
condemned ; and the courts would not permit an obvious abuse of the power of eminent domain 
either by the state legislature or by any of its agencies. It is believed, however, that no question of 
abuse or bad faith could arise when the legislature was shown to have authorized, in its sovereign 
discretion, the taking of the whole title as the most direct and convenient method of controlling 
the use. 

' Brooklyn Park Comm'rs. v. Armstrong, 45 N. Y. 234, 243. 

^ Heyward v. New York, 7 N. Y. 314; Rexjord v. Knight, 11 N. Y. 308; Malone v. Toledo, 34 Ohio, 541. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 147 

An instructive case bearing upon this argument is that of Dingley v. Boston, 100 Mass. 544. 
For the purpose of draining and grading up a part of the Baclv Bay district, the Massachusetts 
legislature authorized the city of Boston to take land within a certain area, and provided that the 
title should vest in the city. The contemplated use, although extensive, was merely temporary; 
when the land was filled and the surface raised to a higher grade, the purpose for which it was 
taken would have been accomplished. The Supreme Court, nevertheless, holds that it was the 
object of the statute to authorize the taking of a fee simple absolute, and that after the filling had 
been completed the title remained in the city, subject to such use or disposition as the authorities 
might deem expedient. The use being public, it could not be said that the taking of a fee simple 
was any the less for public use than the taking of a smaller estate would have been; the legislature 
was sole judge of the expediency of taking one or the other. The court speaks as follows: 

"The act provides that the city government may first take the land, and thereby transfer to the city 
a title in fee simple, without the consent of the owners. It is contended that, as the only object of the act 
is to abate a nuisance, the act ought only to have granted the power to occupy the land temporarily until 
the object of the act should be effected, and it should then be restored to the owners, with a provision that 
the benefit done to the land should be applied in offset to the damages. It is true that the raising of the 
grade does not require an occupation of the land for a great length of time. When this work is completed 
the nuisance will be abated, and the land will be in a condition to be occupied by private persons. But 
its condition will be greatly changed ; almost as much so as raising flats into upland. The former surface 
wiU be deeply buried under the earth that will have been brought upon it, and the changed condition is to 
be perpetual. If the old property is restored, the new property which has been annexed to it must go with 
it. This would be very unjust to the city, who have been compelled to incur the great expense of destroy- 
ing the nuisance, unless the owner were required to make a reasonable compensation, which might be far 
beyond the amount of the damages to which he would be entitled. 

"It would be difficult to adjust the matter; and in many cases it might operate harshly upon the 
owner to compel him to take and pay for the improvements. On the whole, therefore, the plan of com- 
pelling the city to take the land in fee simple, and the owner to part with his whole title for a just compen- 
sation, would seem to be the most simple and equitable that could be adopted ; unless there is some objection 
on the ground that a fee simple is more sacred than an estate for life or years, or than an easement of greater 
or less duration. We can see no ground for regarding one of these titles as more sacred than another, or 
for regarding land as more sacred than personal property. * * * 

"Whether land be taken under the clause authorizing the making of wholesome and reasonable laws, 
or by virtue of the clause authorizing the appropriation of private property to public uses, it must in either 
case be left to the legislature to decide what quantity of estate ought to be taken in order to accomplish its 
purpose, and do the most complete justice to all parties." 

If a municipality were justified in taking an area in order to control the surroundings of a 
park or boulevard, the proceeding would not be rendered illegal by the fact, if fact it was, that the 
hope of pecuniary profit was a strong, or even the controlling, motive. If there is a sound basis 
which justifies the action of public officials, the motive by which those officials are actuated is 
not open to judicial inquiry.' 

If, then, it be a legitimate part of a public improvement — as few would question that it 
is — to impose appropriate restrictions upon the use and improvement of adjacent property, 
and if, as seems probable, the condemnation of the entire title can be authorized for that purpose, 
a municipal body could be empowered by the legislature to acquire title to land outside of the 
physical area of improvement; and if the municipality had also been authorized by the legisla- 
ture to sell any interest no longer needed in any of its land, it could sell the land subject to all 
necessary conditions or restrictions; nor would it lie in the mouth of any court to question the 

^ Meyer v. Teulopolis, 131 111. 552; People v. Wieboldt, 23'! 111. 572; Wisconsin River Improvement Co. v. Pier, iiS N. W. 
Rep. 857. 



148 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

proceeding or brand it as illegal because the real, efficient motive may have been to get the bene- 
fit of the enhancement in the value of the property. 

There is probably no constitutional obstacle to legislation investing a city, park board, county, 
or other appropriate agency with power to condemn as part of or supplementary to a public im- 
provement such contiguous area as the reasonable needs of the improvement itself might require 
to be subjected to proper restrictions; nor could such a law be condemned by reason of its also 
authorizing the sale of the land subject to such conditions or restrictions as the public author- 
ities saw fit to impose upon it." 

If any local legislation authorizing the condemnation and sale of surplus lands were brought 
to the test, the question for the courts would be whether the use for which the property was taken 
was a public one; and it must be borne in mind that upon this point the judgment of the Supreme 
Court of a state would not be final. By the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States it is provided that no state shall deprive any person of property without due process 
of law; and it is now settled that this clause prohibits the taking of private property for any use 
that is not public. The United States Supreme Court, however, has always paid the greatest 
deference to the opinions of state legislatures and the state judiciary as to what uses are public. 
The power of the United States Supreme Court to review a state decision in this particular, and 
also the extreme respect which will be paid to local decisions, are both well illustrated in the case 
of Clark v. Nash, 198 U. S. 361, sustaining a statute of the state of Utah, by the terms of which 
an individual land owner was empowered to condemn the right of conveying water in a ditch 
across his neighbor's land for the purpose of irrigating his own farm. Mr. Justice Peckham, 
delivering the opinion of the court, said : 

"In some states, probably in most of them, the proposition contended for by the plaintiffs in error 
would be sound. But whether a statute of a state permitting condemnation by an individual for the pur- 
pose of obtaining water for his land or for mining should be held to be a condemnation for a public use, 
and therefore a valid enactment, may depend upon a number of considerations relating to the situation 
of the state and its possibilities for land cultivation, or the successful prosecution of its mining or other in- 
dustries. Where the use is asserted to be public, and the right of the individual to condemn land for the 
purpose of exercising such use is founded upon or is the result of some peculiar condition of the soil or climate, 
or other peculiarity of the state, where the right of condemnation is asserted under a state statute, we are 
always, where it can fairly be done, strongly inclined to hold with the state courts, when they uphold a state 
statute providing for such condemnation. * * * 

' House Bill No. 350, Illinois, 1909, already mentioned, contains the following provisions, the legality of which is based upon the 
conclusions above stated. 

Art. IV, Sec. 10. "The city council, on recommendation of the board of park commissioners, shall have power to e.xtend the 
park system of the City of Chicago, both within and outside of the city limits, by adding to or otherwise enlarging any parks, and by 
opening and establishing new parks, and by extinguishing or acquiring such title to, or such easements and rights in or over, any lands 
abutting on or in the vicinity of any existing or projected park as may be necessary or appropriate to control the surroundings of such 
park so as to increase the advantage thereof to the public, or secure to the public the full benefit, use and enjoyment thereof. For 
any such purpose the city may extinguish easements or rights in land, and may acquire lands and easements and rights in or over 
land, by gift, devise, dedication, purchase or condemnation, and may in its discretion, take under the power of eminent domain or 
otherwise the title in fee simple absolute to any land which the city is authorized to acquire, or in or over which it is authorized to 
acquire easements and rights as aforesaid, and such title shall not terminate or be defeated by cessation or abandonment of the use for 
which it was acquired. The declaration of the city council that any such lands or easements or rights in or over land are necessary or 
appropriate for any such purpose shall constitute sufficient prima facie evidence of such necessity or appropriateness. The city council 
may vacate streets and alleys within the limits of or adjacent to any lands acquired for the purpose of this section." 

Art. IV., Sec. 13. "The provisions in this Act contained authorizing the city to acquire the absolute title in fee simple to lands 
in or over which the city is authorized to acquire easements or rights, shall be subject to the provision that any lands so taken for such 
purpose shall, unless appropriated to some public use within ten (10) years after acquisition of the title thereto, be sold and disposed of by 
the city in the manner now or hereafter provided by statute for the sale and conveyance of property no longer required for the use of the 
city, subject, however, to such easements or rights in said lands, and to such conditions, covenants and restrictions respecting the use or 
improvement thereof as the city, upon recommendation of the board of park commissioners, shall, in the deed of conveyance, impose 
or reserve, and subject further to the power (which is hereby granted) of the city council, with the consent of the board of park com- 
missioners, to release, waive or (by or with the consent of the grantee or owner of the conveyed premises) alter any such easements 
rights, conditions, covenants or restrictions." 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 149 

"We do not desire to be understood by this decision as approving of the broad proposition that private 
property may be taken in all cases where the taking may promote the public interest and tend to develop the 
natural resources of the state. We simply say that in this particular case, and upon the facts stated in the 
findings of the court, and having reference to the conditions already stated, we are of the opinion that the 
use is a public one, although the taking of the right of way is for the purpose simply of thereby obtaining 
the water for an individual, where it is absolutely necessary to enable him to make any use whatever of his 
land, and which will be valuable and fertile only if water can be obtained." 

Again, in the very recent case of Hairston v. Danville df Western Railway Co., 208 U. S. 
598, the facts were that the Supreme Court of Virginia had sustained a proceeding by which a rail- 
road condemned land for a spur track to a tobacco factory, the owner of which agreed to reimburse 
the company for the cost of acquiring the land. The decision of the federal court sustaining 
the judgment of the state court was delivered by ^Ir. Justice Moody, who said : 

" When we come to inquire what are public uses for which the right of compulsory taking may be em- 
ployed, and what are private uses for which the right is forbidden, we find no agreement, either in reasoning 
or conclusion. The one and only principle in which all courts seem to agree is that the nature of the uses, 
whether public or private, is ultimately a judicial question. The determination of this question by the 
courts has been influenced in the different states by considerations touching the resources, the capacity of 
the soil, the relative importance of industries to the general public welfare, and the long-established methods 
and habits of the people. In all these respects, conditions vary so much in the states and territories of the 
Union that different results might weU be expected No case is recalled where this court has con- 
demned as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment a taking upheld by the state court as a taking for public 

uses in conformity with its laws We must not be understood as saying that cases may not arise where 

this court would decline to foUow the state courts in their determination of the uses for which land could be 
taken by the right of eminent domain. The cases cited, however, show how greatly we have deferred to 
the opinions of the state courts on this subject, which so closely concerns the welfare of their people. We 
have found nothing in the Federal Constitution which prevents the condemnation by one person for his 
individual use of a right of way over the land of another for the construction of an irrigation ditch; of a 
right of way over the land of another for an aerial bucket line ; or of the right to flow the land of another 
by the erection of a dam. It remains for the future to disclose what cases, if any, of taking for uses which 
the state constitution, law and court approve wiU be held to be forbidden by the Fourteenth Amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States." 

It thus appears that it would require an extreme case of manifest abuse of the power of eminent 
domain to lead the Supreme Court of the United States to condemn as private a use which a state 
legislature had recognized as public, and which had been sustained by the Supreme Court of the 
state. If the abuse of power were manifest, the United States courts would not hesitate to con- 
demn the proceeding, even though expressly sanctioned by the constitution of a state; but there 
is every reason to believe that any method of taking and selling land justified by the reasonable 
purpose of controlling the environs of a public place would withstand the scrutiny of the United 
States Supreme Court if sanctioned by the legislative and judicial departments of the state gov- 
ernment. 

In concluding this topic, some experiments made in other states towards taking more prop- 
erty than was demanded by the physical requirements of an improvement, either to control the 
environs or for mere pecuniary considerations, may be passed briefly in review. The experience 
of foreign countries need not be recounted here, since some governments, unlimited by consti- 
tutional restrictions, have conducted real estate transactions of a wide range, far beyond any- 
thing that could reasonably be contemplated in America. The State of New York had upon its 
statute books early in the last century an act already adverted to, purporting to authorize munici- 
palities to take all of a connected tract of land when only part was needed and to sell the surplus. 



ISO PLAN OF CHICAGO 

This statute was adjudged by the courts to be unconstitutional, in so far as it sought to author- 
ize the taking, against the owners' consent, of land not actually needed. A resolution, however, 
has, after many years, been introduced (January 27, 1909), in the senate of the State of New York 
for the submission of a constitutional amendment in the following language : 

" When private property shall be taken for public use by a municipal corporation, additional adjoining 
or neighboring property may be taken, under conditions to be prescribed by the legislature by general law. 
Property thus taken shall be deemed to be taken for public use." 

In Massachusetts, Section 4 of Chapter 50 of the revised laws provides that the owner of 
abutting land liable to assessment may at a certain stage of the proceedings give notice that he 
elects to surrender his land ; in which event the board may, if it thinks expedient, take the whole 
parcel at its estimated value, and any part not required may be sold. A somewhat similar statute, 
authorizing an owner to convey to the city his entire property at its appraised value when part 
of it was taken for widening a street, was involved, and by implication sustained, in the case of 
Dorgan v. Boston, 12 Allen, 223. 

Chapter 443 of the Massachusetts laws of 1904 sanctions the taking of remnants of parcels 
part of which are condemned for public improvement, and authorizes the city to sell any of such 
remnants subject to any building or other restrictions which the proper authorities may see fit 
to impose. The power to take the whole of a tract when part only is needed is limited to the 
case where the remnant after such taking would, from its size or shape, be unsuited for the erec- 
tion of suitable and appropriate buildings, and where also the public convenience and necessity 
require such taking. There are provisions authorizing such remnants to be sold and united with 
adjacent property if the owner thereof consents; but the legislature refused to adopt the more 
radical plan, recommended by a committee, of uniting such remnants with the contiguous prop- 
erty, without the consent of the owner thereof, by condemning his land in order to incorporate 
the remnant with it and thus effect an advantageous sale. This act has never been tested in the 
courts, and it may be surmised that, in spite of the very liberal views of the Massachusetts courts, 
the fate of a proceeding under its provisions would be problematical, unless it could be made to 
appear that the "public convenience and necessity" actually did require such taking of entire 
tracts for the purpose of imposing upon the odd remnants some conditions and restrictions ger- 
mane to the major improvement. 

Another statute, framed on somewhat similar lines, but also never submitted to a judicial 
test, is Section 10 of the Ohio Municipal Code, as amended in 1904. This section provides that 
all municipal corporations shall have power to appropriate real estate within their corporate 
limits for certain specific purposes, among which are the following: 

"For establishing esplanades, boulevards, parkways, park grounds and public reservations in, around 
and leading to public buildings, and for the purpose of reselling such land, with reservations in the deeds 
of such resale as to the future use of said lands so as so protect public buildings and their environs, and to 
preserve the view, appearance, light, air and usefulness of public grounds occupied by public buildings and 
esplanades and parkways leading thereto." 

Chapter 194 of the Acts of the Virginia General Assembly for the session of the year 1906 
provides as follows : 

"Any city or town of this Commonwealth may acquire by purchase, gift or condemnation property 
adjoining its parks, or plats on which its monuments are located, or other property used for public purposes, 
or in the vicinity of such parks, plats or property, which is used and maintained in such a manner as to im- 
pair the beauty, usefulness or efficiency of such parks, plats or public property, and may likewise acquire 
property adjacent to any street, the topography of which, from its proximity thereto, impairs the convenient 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 151 

use of such street, or renders impracticable, without extraordinary expense, the improvement of the same, 
and the city or town so acquiring any such property may subsequently dispose of the property so acquired, 
making limitations as to the uses thereof, which will protect the beauty, usefulness, efficiency, or conven- 
ience of such parks, plats or property." 

CONGESTED AREAS 

In considering a model plan for the city of Chicago, attention is naturally called to the ex- 
ample of European cities which have removed the inhabitants from whole areas where the pop- 
ulation was congested or the arrangement of the streets unwholesome, and have transplanted 
them to new territory while the condemned area was being renovated or rebuilt. The Plan of 
Chicago does not contemplate any imitation of such examples. The police power is adequate 
to the destruction, without recompense, of single buildings which are insanitary or unsafe; 
but the legislature of Illinois has not yet undertaken to go further and license the condemnation 
by municipal authorities of congested or unwholesome areas under the power of eminent domain. 
Local drainage districts may be organized, with power to reclaim wet agricultural lands and locate 
ditches over private property, on the payment of proper compensation ; and it would also doubt- 
less be competent for the legislature to sanction the taking by eminent domain of a district even 
within the city which was by nature low or pestilent, as was done with the Back Bay flats in 
Boston. Different considerations, however, apply to an area where the noxious conditions are due 
to the arrangement of streets or to the manner of building upon land by individual owners. Each 
proprietor might with reason demand the right to be dealt with individually; and if his own lot 
was vacant, or was improved with buildings transgressing no sanitary laws or regulations, he 
might well oppose any scheme which required him to part with his land on account of the trans- 
gression of his neighbors. A tract of land fit to breed pestilence because of the niggardliness 
of nature might be reclaimed under the power of eminent domain, because the arch offender 
was not subject to the police jurisdiction of the state; but if a plague spot has been created by 
the fault of men, an innocent victim of their malfeasance would have some reason and more law 
on his side if he insisted upon the state proceeding against the culprits singly. 

Accordingly, the Chicago Plan deals only incidentally with this subject. The city can, as 
has been done in some European capitals, open wide thoroughfares and avenues through congested 
areas, or take the heart of the district for a public park; and the legislature might authorize the 
condemnation of a zone of reasonable width around these open spaces on the principles already 
laid down. It may be doubted, however, whether the courts would sustain as constitutional a 
statute designed to appropriate a whole congested area merely for the purpose of renovating it. 
If the power to do so in a flagrant case were sustained by the Supreme Court of the state, or if 
such a project were authorized by constitutional amendment, the measure would probably not 
be condemned by the federal courts as contravening the Constitution of the United States. To 
the opening of wide streets, however, through congested districts, as proposed in the Plan, there 
is no obstacle unless it be the lack of financial resources. 

PRESENT BORROWING AND TAXING POWERS 

In carrj'ing out so comprehensive a scheme of development as is outlined in the Plan of Chi- 
cago, some subsidiary sources of revenue may be found, but the main dependence must be upon 



152 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

the taxing power of the state and its agencies. Current expenses are properly met by current 
taxes; but it is a main principle of economics that the cost of permanent improvements should 
be distributed over a series of years commensurate with the probable duration of the benefit. 
Lest, however, the existing generation should lay inordinate burdens upon posterity, limitations 
have been set upon the amount and duration of indebtedness which may be incurred by any mu- 
nicipal body. Section 12 of Article IX of the constitution of the State of Illinois declares that no 
municipal corporation shall become indebted for any purpose to an amount exceeding five per 
cent of the value of the taxable property therein, as ascertained by the last assessment ; and that, 
at or before the time of incurring such debt, the municipality shall provide for the collection of a 
direct annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and to discharge the principal within twenty years 
from the time when the debt was contracted. Under the present revenue laws applicable to Cook 
County, all taxable property is valued by assessors at its "full value," and one-fifth of that figure 
is entered in the books as the "assessed value," and, as afterwards equalized, is made the basis 
on which all tax and debt limitations are computed.' 

The constitutional limit of municipal indebtedness does not mean that every public corpora- 
tion has power to incur debts to that amount. Municipalities have no greater powers than the 
legislature confers upon them. There is no constitutional limit on the amount of taxes that the 
legislature can authorize municipalities to levy.^ They may incur only such debts, not exceed- 
ing the constitutional limit, and levy such taxes as the general assembly authorizes them to do. 
Several municipal corporations, however, may be created under legislative authority for different 
purposes, embracing all or part of the same territory, and each of these overlapping municipal- 
ities may be given power to levy taxes and incur debts up to the constitutional limit. To re- 
strain the increasing burden of taxes, the legislature in 1901 passed the so-called Juul law, designed 
to limit the aggregate taxes which might be levied upon any community in any one year to five 
per cent of the assessed valuation of property therein; but the constitutionality of this statute 
has been questioned and the amendments of and numerous exceptions to its provisions made 
by the legislature have left its operation, if not its continued existence, so doubtful that its repeal 
has been sought on divers occasions.' 

The county of Cook is permitted to levy taxes not exceeding seventy-five cents on every 
one hundred dollars, without popular vote, and to levy any additional taxes voted by the people. 
County bonds may be voted by the people in any such amount as not to cause the total debt of the 
county to exceed five per cent of the assessed value of the property therein. The assessed value 
for the year 1908 was $514,730,186, of which five per cent is $25,736,509. Up to that limit the 
county might become indebted by vote of the people. The present bonded debt is $9,360,000, 
and the floating debt averages about $1,600,000. Without aiming at nicety of detail, it may be 
said that the county has at present a borrowing capacity, in round figures, of $15,000,000. The 
operation of the Juul law, however, now reduces the tax available for the general expenses 
of Cook County to sLxty-five cents on one hundred dollars; and the increasing demands upon 
the county would probably necessitate a modification of this law, so as specifically to exclude 
from its limitations the taxes necessary to care for additional bond issues and provide for future 
maintenance of county parks or boulevards. 

' House Bill No. 293, introduced at Springfield, March 11, 1909, seeks to make the assessed value one-third, instead of one- 
fifth, of the full value. 

'Schnell v. Rock Island, 232 111. 89, 98. 

' For the Juul law as amended see Kurd's Statutes of Illinois, edition of 1908, p. 1814. 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 153 

The city of Chicago is practically indebted at all times to the constitutional limit of five per 
cent of its assessed valuation, and has been given powder by the legislature to lex^y an annual tax 
for corporate purposes not exceeding two per cent on that valuation, exclusive of taxes levied for 
the payment of bonds. Under the operation of the Juul law, the maximum rate has been cut 
down to one and eight-tenths per cent. The assessed valuation of city property for 1908 was 
$477,190,399. A two per cent tax on that amount is $9,543,808, and a five per cent indebtedness 
would be $23,859,520. The legislature could authorize a higher annual tax, but could not, under 
the constitution, increase the limit of indebtedness unless by means of some change in the method 
of assessing the property on which the limitation was to be computed.' One of the chief reasons 
for asking a new charter was to increase the bond-issuing power of the city by changing the 
basis of computation of the limit of indebtedness. 

The taxing powers of the three park districts in the city of Chicago are contained in a mass 
of separate laws, which authorize the issuing of bonds for particular purposes and the levying of 
taxes to pay the interest and retire the principal. The park boards could be authorized by the 
legislature to incur debts somewhat in excess of their present bonded liability, without infringing 
the provisions of the constitution; but here also the tax limitations of the Juul law would have 
to be modified unless maintenance expenditures were scaled. The assessed valuation for the 
year 1908 of property in the West Park district was $105,614,809, of which five per cent is 
$5,280,740. The present bonded debt of the West Park board is $3,270,000, leaving a possible 
margin of about $2,000,000 of additional indebtedness that the legislature could authorize to be 
incurred by the board. 

An entirely new taxing body could, with the consent of the voters, be created by the legis- 
lature, having jurisdiction over all or part of Cook County. That body, if properly constituted, 
could be invested with power to levy such taxes as might be deemed advisable, and with power 
to issue bonds up to the constitutional limit of five per cent of the assessed valuation. It is also 
to be borne in mind that by some slight changes in the method of fixing the assessed valuation 
of property, which is now arbitrarily defined as one-fifth of the full valuation, the legislature could 
largely increase the borrowing power of all the taxing bodies. 

Large improvements need not only extensive borrowing powers, but the distribution of the 
burden over a long series of years. While twenty years has been heretofore deemed the limit 
of time which ought to be allowed for paying any debt incurred by the issue of bonds, it may be 
thought that the radical changes contemplated by the Plan of Chicago are of such unusual mag- 
nitude and of such permanent character that justice might demand distribution of the burden 
over more than one generation. Upon that view, bonds running for a longer period might be 
thought reasonable. The present constitutional limit of twenty years is, however, absolute, and 
an amendment to the constitution would be required to enable any municipality to issue bonds 
for a longer term. 

' House Bill No. 293, Illinois, 1909, already mentioned, would, if enacted into a law, give the city power to issue bonds for 
its share of the cost of the north and west connecting boulevards, or for a beginning on the Civic Center. The other necessities of 
the city would, however, exhaust most of the increased bonding power provided by this bill. 



154 PLAN OF CHICAGO 



CONCLUSIONS 



From the foregoing examination of the legal aspects of the Plan of Chicago it appears 

First: That without any additional legislation many of the recommendations of the Plan 
can be adopted and practical steps be taken to carry them into effect ; 

Second: That the legislature has ample power to grant either to the city or to other govern- 
mental agencies such additional authority as may be necessary to carry out all of the recommen- 
dations of the Plan as fully and as rapidly as may be found wise; and 

Third : That additional authority, and especially a substantial increase in the local bonding 
power, is essential to the effective accomplishment of the most important of these recommendations. 

It remains for the people of Chicago, through their legally constituted representatives, to 
decide upon the wisdom of the suggestions and to adopt them in the order of their relative im- 
portance and availability. The necessary funds can no doubt be secured as rapidly as it can be 
clearly shown that their expenditure will result in real advantage to the individual citizens who 
constitute "the public," and upon whom rests, directly or indirectly, the burden of expense. In 
the last analysis it must be clear that a community which makes wise expenditure for public works 
not only imposes no real burden upon private property, but increases the value of all private prop- 
erty within its limits. Such a community should be given adequate authority to levy taxes and 
incur debt, subject always to such intelligent supervision of expenditures as will effectively guard 
against extravagance and waste. Certainly, any limitations upon a progressive municipality 
should be broad enough to make it possible to undertake such public enterprises as are recom- 
mended in this Plan. 

Fortunately, this is entirely possible in Chicago within the constitutional limitations upon 
municipal indebtedness. By consolidating the local authorities within the city of Chicago under 
the provisions of the so-called charter amendment to the state constitution (Article IV, Sec. 34), 
the present bonding capacity of the city can be multiplied five times, less the aggregate indebted- 
ness of the consolidating bodies, and subject to such limitations as may be imposed in the con- 
solidating act. By merely changing the statutory method of fixing the assessed value of property, 
the present bonding power will be proportionately increased. By utilizing the county for 
making such improvements as it may well be authorized to make, we can secure additional 
bonding capacity even greater than that available through the agency of the city. There would 
seem to be no valid objection to an act authorizing any county which chose to adopt its pro- 
visions by popular vote to acquire, construct, and maintain parks and boulevards, with all the 
powers (including those of eminent domain) already recommended as to cities and park or forest- 
preserve districts, and with appropriate increase of taxing and of bonding powers subject to pop- 
ular approval. For many, if not all, of the purposes now sought under the Forest-Preserve Act, 
the county of Cook would seem to be the appropriate and available agency. It would be a 
distinct public gain to enlarge its functions so that membership on its board of commissioners 
would both demand and permit the highest type of public service. If the Forest-Preserve Act, 
or an act of this general character, is constitutional, the agency thereby provided is also available 
for many of the purposes of the Plan, and could be given additional bonding power subject only 
to the constitutional limitation. It will thus be seen that ample bonding power for all the 



LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLAN 155 

purposes of the Plan can be conferred by the legislature. Significant precedents are not lack- 
ing to justify the expectation that private generosity will co-operate in the accomplishment of 
some of the recommendations here made for the practical and effective promotion of the public 
welfare. Some of the conspicuous benefactions of this general nature, already made by public 
spirited citizens of Chicago, have been mentioned earlier in this volume,' and the movement for 
small parks and playgrounds has already received very substantial assistance from the generosity 
of private individuals. To other individuals other features, such as outer parks or the improve- 
ment of tenement conditions, may make an equal or greater appeal. 

Some increase in the bonding power of the city is, however, essential to the effective accom- 
plishment of certain park and street improvements which the city itself should immediately under- 
take. The two great connecting links — that between the North and South Divisions at Michigan 
Avenue, and that between the West and South Divisions by means of Twelfth Street — might 
well proceed immediately; and yet to raise the entire cost of these improvements by special as- 
sessment, spread over a wide area, would be to arouse vigorous opposition both in and out of the 
courts. This contest should, if possible, be confined to the adjustment of damages and benefits 
to the property directly affected and which abuts on or is in the immediate vicinity of the im- 
provements. Property which is clearly benefited in a special and peculiar manner should be as- 
sessed its fair share — and only its fair share — of the cost of these improvements, and the 
remaining cost should be borne by the city at large as a public benefit. The present machinery 
of the special assessment law is adequate for all these purposes. What is needed is sufficient 
bonding power to enable the city to issue bonds for the portion of the cost assessed as "public 
benefits." 

The power to condemn or otherwise acquire easements, and to acquire and thereafter sell 
the fee simple title to property in the immediate vicinity of public parks and boulevards, subject 
to such easements as may enhance and protect the public use, would be of great advantage in 
the practical accomplishment of many improvements, and might aid in overcoming serious finan- 
cial obstacles. The available space will, however, not permit the discussion of the particular 
instances to which this suggestion especially applies. 

It remains only to consider the official agencies which are most desirable and most available 
for the effective working out of the Plan. As a matter of theory, the best results could be achieved 
through a consolidation of the city and county governments, or by placing the entire metropolitan 
district, which constitutes the real city of Chicago, under a unified municipal administration, 
endowed with broad powers of local self-government, including the power to levy taxes and incur 
indebtedness. Practically, however, the enlargement of the powers of these two governing bodies 
— the city and the county — within the limits permitted by the present constitution, is probably 
the most available method of attaining desirable results. As a means of co-ordinating the two it 
is respectfully suggested that a permanent Commission on City and County Plan should be created 
by joint resolution or ordinance of the city council and the county board. This commission 
should contain appropriate representation for each body, and it should be charged with the duty 
of reporting to each its recommendations as to all matters falling within the general scope of a 
city and county Plan. It might well be ordained by the city council that no public buildings should 
be hereafter located or erected, and that no parks should be acquired and no streets or boulevards 
be opened, without a report from the commission or the city members thereof. The commission 

'See Chapter VIII. 



156 PLAN OF CHICAGO 

might be composed entirely of city and county officials, or might contain some representation of 
those who are not public officials but who are particularly interested in and particularly qualified 
for its work. The city board of local improvements and the present park boards or any future 
consolidated park board should be directly represented. 

Whether the functions of the Commissions on Municipal Art and Small Parks should in the 
interest of simplification and efficiency be transferred to such a Commission on City and County 
Plan might be profitably considered. While such an advisory commission would be entirely 
extra-legal, it would be of distinct service in securing the harmonious development of a single 
comprehensive Plan for the city of Chicago and its environs. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



A 

Advertising, regulation of, 127, 131, 132, 140. 

Algonquin, 40. 

Alvord, John W., his paper on good roads, 39 (note) ; his 

report on Chicago pavements, 83. 
American cities, centers of industry and traffic, 4. 
Annapolis, Md., laid out on lines similar to those proposed 

by Wren for London, 29. 
Ancient civilization, decay of, 13. 
Antwerp, 100; the influence of the Reubens collection on, 

116; treatment of the river banks in, 116. 
Apartment houses, 23j 34- 
Arc de Triomphe de I'Etoile, Paris, begun by Napoleon I, 

finished by Louis Phillippe, 17. 
Arc du Carrousel, Paris, 1 7. 
Architects, present plans for World's Columbian Exposition, 

6, (note) ; should work together in street building, 86. 
Architectural Record, quoted, 18. 
Armour Institute of Technology, 120. 
Arnold, Bion J., estimates increase in the population of 

Chicago, ^T,. 
Art, a source of wealth and moral influence, 116. 
Art Institute, the Lake Front improvements presented at, 

6; students at, 109; new building for, 114; cost of, 120, 121. 
Art Schools, 34. 
Ashland Avenue, 117. 
Atlantic Monthly Magazine, quoted, ig. 
Athens, viorks of Pericles in, 11; characteristics of architec- 
ture in, 11; the Acropolis, 117. 
Athletic Field, proposed location on the lake front, 116. 
Aurora, 40. 

Austria, finds new strength in union with Hungary, 19. 
Automobiles, damage to roads by, 39; promote suburban 

life; 42, 46. 
Avenue, the, character of, 82; division of traffic on, 84; use 

of the elipse in, 90. 

B 

Babylon, the greatest commercial city of ancient times, 10; 

description of, 10. 
Baltic, the, yachtmen of, 52. 
Baltimore, improvements in, 28. 

Baguio, summer capital of the Philippines, plan for, 29. 
Batavia, 40. 

Baths, in Rome, accommodations of, 13. 
Baumeister, German city-builder, 21, (note). 
Baxter, Sylvester, secretary of Metropolitan Improvement 

Commission, Boston, 20. 
Beauty, Greek passion for, 11, commercial advantages of, 

no. 
Berlin, rapid growth of, i; physical conditions in, 14; parks 

of, 49, 80; building restrictions in, 107. 
Bill-boards, 41, 131, 140. 
Blue Island, 40, 41. 

Board of Local Improvements, powers of, 133. 
Boating facilities, need of increased, 115. 
Bois de Boulogne, 48. 



Bois de Vincennes, 48. 

Bond issues for improvements, 151. 

Boston, defenses of, 9; cost of park system, 27; metrojxilitan 

sewage and park commissions, 38; extension of streets, 

38; extent of park system, 49; apartment houses in, 88; 

improvements in Back Bay district, 108, no. 
Boulevard, character of, 82. 
Boulevards of Chicago, 84, 93, 120. 
British Museum, no. 
Brown, Glenn, Secretary American Institute of Architects, 

21, (note). 
Brussels, boulevards in, 20, 90. 
Budapest, commercial progress of, 19; treatment of the 

Danube in, 116. 
Buildings, regulation of the height of, 141. 
Building-lines, 127. 

Burnham, Daniel H., 6 (note); plan for San Francisco, 280. 
Burns, John, town-planning scheme of, 22, 128. 
Bushy Park, London, 48. 

c 

Chicago, rapid growth of population, i ; realizes that a city 
plan is necessary, i ; the plan presented the result of exfwr- 
ience, 2; justification of the plan, 4; legal aspects of plan, 
127-156; Chicago a center of industry and traffic, 4; 
future greatness, 4; public spirit, 4; understands the nec- 
cessity of experts, 4; results of the World's Fair, 6 ; plans 
for improvement of the Lake front, 6; Merchants Club 
begins plan, 7; prosperity the result of comprehensive 
plan, 8 ; the Spirit of Chicago, 8 ; a typical example of a 
palisaded town, 9; surroundings similar to those of Paris, 
London and Berlin, 14; opportunity for systematic im- 
provement, 15; population greater than that of Paris 
when Haussmann's work began, 18; nature of the Chicago 
problem, 30; the metropolis of the Middle West, 31; 
extent of city's influence, 32, 34; probable growth, 32, 
33; size of the city not the first consideration, 32; lack 
of foresight after the fire of 1871, 32; B. J. Arnold's 
estimates of growth of population, ^y, James J. Hill's 
prophecy as to growth, Tii', circulation of Chicago news- 
papers, 2,7,; bank reserves, 33; commercial influence, 34; 
political headquarters, 34; resjx)nsibilities of the city, 34; 
Commission to lay out territory adjoining the city, 34; 
provision should be made for public buildings and play- 
grounds, 35; churches, 36; suburbs, 36; need of highways 
into surrounding country, 38; building of good roads, 39; 
highways surrounding the city, 40, 41 ; streets of Chicago, 
43; beginnings of park system, 43; park area second to 
that of Philadelphia, 44; park extension begins, 44; small 
parks, 44, 54; proposed arrangement of new parks, 44; park 
area relative to population, 44 ; park circuits, 45 ; recom- 
mendations of Special Park Commission, 46; develop- 
ment of suburban railway service, 46; need for outlying 
parks, 47 ; compared with London, 48 ; opportunities for 
large parks, 50; development of Lake front, 50; yachting, 
52; Chicago made largely by the railroads, 61 ; problem 
of freight traffic, 61 ; necessity for revising transportation 
facilities, 62 ; only goods to be consumed in city should 



159 



i6o 



INDEX 



Chicago — Continued. 

enter therein, 63; a traffic clearing house proposed, 64; 
railway and water traffic compared, 64; relief from con- 
gestion of traffic, 65; harbors, 65; tunnel system, 65; a 
loop system, 66; exciu'sion piers, 68; circuits for freight 
and passenger traffic, 68; passenger stations, 70, 71; loca- 
tions of passenger stations, 72, 112; street-car loop system, 
73; extension of business area, 74; suburban passenger 
traffic, 74; mail service, 76; ideal nature of proposed 
transportation system, 78; natural features of Chicago, 
79; how effective results may be obtained, 80; needs of 
the growing city, 80; adequate circulation and sufficient 
park area essential, 80; cost of postponing improvements 
in circulation system, 81; report on street paving, 83; 
existing diagonals, 84; location of the city, 89; advantages 
of rectiUuear street system, 89; circular avenues, 90; 
necessity for platting outlying district, 91 ; preserving 
width of existing avenues, 92; circuit arteries suggested, 
92; avenues paralleling railways, 94; diversion of traffic 
from the business center, 95; proposed circuits, 95-96; 
encroachments on the river, 97 ; treatment of river banks, 
97, 112; widening of streets, 97 ; requisites for area outside 
the business center, 98; the heart of Chicago, 99; spread 
of population, 99 ; disposition of traffic within the business 
center, 99; Michigan Avenue the base-hne of the city, 
100; width of streets, 100; bridge at Michigan Avenue, 
105 ; expenditures for permanent improvements, 107 ; the 
improvement of Halsted Street, 107; slums of the city, 108; 
Berlin an example for housing conditions, 109; oppor- 
tunity for comprehensive treatment of the central portion 
of the city, no; development of Grant Park, no; economy 
and effectiveness of group-plan for Grant Park, in; a 
yacht harbor, in; gifts by citizens should be encouraged, 
112; Congress Street as the grand axis, 113; reasons for 
choice of Congress Street for grand axis, 113, 114; the 
civic center, 115; buildings composing civic center, 115, 
116; dome of civic center, 116, 118; Federal group of 
buildings, 117; increase in real estate values, 119; raising 
street levels, 120; creation of the park system, 120; puri- 
fication of Lake Michigan, 120; cost of World's Fair, 120; 
cultivation of the fine arts, 120; influence of the universities, 
120; taxing powers, 153. 

City-planning, begins in Paris, 13; in Europe, 19; French and 
German theories, 20. 

Civic Center of Chicago, buildings comprising, 115; location 
of, 115; architecture of, 117; dome of, 118; cost of, 123; 
power of park commissioners to acquire land for, 134. 

Civil Law, unifying force of, 31. 

Cleanliness, a necessity for the city, 82. 

Cleveland, Ohio, group plan for, 27, cost of improvements 
in, 27. 

Club houses for the people, 44. 

Colbert, one of the Paris planners, 15, 20. 

Commerce, governing motive in location of cities, 9 ; beginning 
of in Europe, 13; expansion of, 19; makes art creations 
possible, 22. 

Commercial Club, undertakes plan of Chicago, i ; designs 
for Lake Front improvement presented to, 6; consolidates 
with Merchants' Club, 7 ; carries on work for plan of 
Chicago, 7 ; meetings of, 7 ; discussion of good roads, 39 
(note). 

Condemnation, limitations on the right of, 128; congested 
areas, power to open, 151. 

Congress of the Confederation, 31. 

Congress Street, should be developed as central axis of city, 
113; width of, 114; its relation to Grant Park, 115. 

Cook County, creates outer belt Commission, 44; County 
building part of the civic center group, 116; attempt to 



organize a forest -preserve district, 132; limited powers of, 

134; taxation in, 152. 
Courtland, 40. 
Courts, building for, 116, 
Crerar, John, endows Crerar Library, 109. 
Crerar Library, 108, 114, 120. 
Crown Point, 40. 
Calumet Feeder, 55. 

Calument River, importance of harbor, 57. 
Canal Street, location of railway stations on, 107; widening 

of, 113; 
Cathedral, the, embodied the highest expression of civic art, 

13- 

Cedar Lake, 40. 

Cemeteries, Roman, 12; characteristics of modern, 36. 

Century Magazine, quoted, 21, (note.) 

Charles River, Mass., improvement of, 49. 

Charleston, 9. 

Chicago Avenue, traffic on, 116, 117; 

Chicago Heights, 40. 

Chicago Ridge, 41. 

Chicago River, forests along, 56; improvement of, 97; treat- 
ment of the banks, no. 

Chicago University, 51, 120, 121. 

China, opening of, 23- 

Christianity, unifying force of, 31. 

Churches, usually not architecturally important, 36. 

City, the, formless growth of neither economical nor satis- 
factory, I ; overcrowding and congestion of traffic paralyzes 
vital functions of, i ; complicated problems of not beyond 
control of pubic sentiment, i ; efforts to bring about best 
conditions of life in, i; parks the lungs of, 12; strain of 
life in, 32; opportunities for the ambitious, 33; needs 
adequate circulation and sufficient park area, 80; needs 
created by increase in population, 81; reasons for growth 
of population, 81 ; general character of, 82. 87. 



D 

Danube, the, no, 116. 

Darmstadt, 20. 

Defense, governing motive in location of cities, 9. 

De Kalb, 40, 47. 

Department of State, facilitates work on plan of Chicago, 7. 

Des Plaines River, scenery along, 40; beauty of, 55, 90,91. 

Dcr Stadtcban, magazine, 21, (note). 

Dewey, Stoddard, on foreign money spent in Paris, 19. 

Diagonals necessity for, 84; function of, 91; those proposed 

for Chicago, 92. 
Diodorus, his description of Babylon, 10. 
District of Columbia, L'Enfant plan extended over the 

entire District, 25 ; plan of, 91. (See also Washington, D. C.) 
Douglas Park, 44. 
Drainage Canal, 55; cost of, 120. 
Dresden, 20, no, 116. 
Driveways, extent of proposed, 58. 
Dundee, 40. 
Du Page County, 55. 
Du Page River, 40. 



E 

Eagle Lake, 40. 

Education, unifying force of in the Northwest, 32. 
Edwards, Percy J., his history of London street improvements, 
21, (note). 



INDEX 



i6i 



Egypt, defended by deserts, lo; pyTamids and temples of, lo. 

Electric railways bind outlying towns to central city, 42; 
promote neighborliness, 42. 

Elgin, 40. 

Eliot, President, Charles W., quoted, 123. 

Ellis Park, 43. 

Elmhurst, 40. 

Eminent domain, exercise of power of, 129, 140, 141, 142; 
right to take more than necessary lands, 144, 151. 

England, beginning of national life in, 13; growth of com- 
merce, ig; housing schemes, 21, 128; town planning, 21, 
22, 34; holds Northwestern posts after the Revolution, 31 ; 
roads, 39; regulation of advertising, 127. 

Epping Forest, 48. 

Evanston, 40, 50. 

Evergreen Park, 56. 

Euphrates River, tunnel under, 10. 

Europe, national life begins in, 13; changes in cities, 19, 22. 



Federal Building in Chicago, 117. 

Ferguson Monument Fund, 121. 

Field, Marshall, gives Field Museum of Natural History lo 

Chicago, 108. 
Field Museum, the importance of, 108, 114; new building 

for, 114; location of, 121. 
Fischer, Prof. Theodore, German city-builder, 21, (note). 
Flag Creek, 55. 

Florence, beauty and power of, 13, 20. 
FoUeston, 40. 

Fontainebleau, Forest of, 48. 
Foreign peoples in Chicago, i. 
Forest parks, 53, 131, 136. 
Fort Dearborn, 115. 
Fortifications, in relation to cities, 9; changed into boulevards, 

90. 
Fountains, location of, 86. 
Fox River, 40. 
France, beginning of national life in, 13; leads the world in 

art and taste, 19; improvement of cities, 19; roads, 39. 
Franco-Prussian war, improvements in European cities since, 

19. 
Frankfort-on-the-Main, 20. 
Franklin, Benjamin, his connection with the Northwest, 31. 



Ganges River, 10. 

Garfield Park, 44. 

Gary, 40, 58. 

Geneva, 40. 

Genoa, 40. 

German city improvements, nature of, 20; modification of 
French system, 20; aim of to produce variety and interest, 
20; in Frankfort-on-the-Main, 20; advertising regulations, 
127. 

Germany, beginning of National Life in, 13. 

Germany, ctTect of peace on, 19; magnitude of the city-plan- 
ning movement in, 21 (note); municipal expositions, 21, 
(note). 

Gibbs Woods, 54. 

Gifts by public-spirited citizens, advantage of to a city, no, 
116. 

Glencoe, entrance to park system at, 54, 55. 

Glenview Golf Club, 55. 

Good Roads, economic effects of, 42. (See also highways.) 



Governor of Illinois inspects work on plan of Chicago, 7. 

Government, enlarged participation of people in, i. 

Grade crossings of railroads, 71. 

Grant Park, improvement of, 6, 44, 52; proposed treatment 
of, 108; grouping of buildings in, 109, 114, 115; intellec- 
tual center of Chicago, 116. 

Grant, Gen. U. S., embodiment of the spirit of the Middle 
West, 32. 

Great Lakes, 32. 

Griffith, 40. 

Gurlitt, Cornelius, as to German city-planning, 20, 21. 



H 

Hainault Forest, London, 48. 

Hall of Record.s, 116. 

Halstead Street, longest business street in the world, 106. 
treatment of, 106 ; known as the king of streets, 106 ; 117. 

Hamburg, 20. 

Hammond, 40. 

Hampton Court, England, 48. 

Harbors, in Chicago, 65, 68. 

Harlem, 55. 

Hartford, improvement of, 29. 

Harvard Medical School, location of, 115. 

Harvey, 40. 

Haussmann, George Eugene, becomes prefect of the Seine, 
17; his place as a city builder, 18; builds on the founda- 
tions laid by Louis XIV., 18; character of his work, 18; 
cost of his improvements, 19; imitation of, 19. 

Heart of Chicago, the, 99, no (see also Business Center). 

Henley, regattas at, 48. 

Highways, necessity for adequate, 38; commercial advan- 
tages of, 38; along railways, 41, 94; drainage of, 41; 
proposed system of, 121; cost of creating, 121 (see also 
Roads). 

Hill, James J., predicts future population of Chicago, 3^; 
on improvement of railway terminals, 62. 

Hinsdale, 40. 

Hobart, 40. 

Holidays, necessity of caring for crowds on, 88. 

Housing conditions in England, 21; in Chicago, 113, 141. 

Hudson Palisades, improvement of, 38. 

Humboldt Park, 44. 

Hungary, 19. 

Hunt, Richard M., presents plan for Administration building 
at World's Fair, 6 (note). 



I 

Illinois, good roads in, 39; park legislation, 44, 127; tendency 
toward city life in, 47; constitutional limitations on im- 
provements, 128. 

Illinois Central Railway, 52. 

India, 10. 

Indian country of North America, settlement of, 9. 

Indiana, cooperation of, 130. 

Indians in the Northwest, 31. 

Irrigation of western lands, ^^. 

Italy, 13, 19. 



Jackson Park, site of World's Columbian Exposition, 6; 
44, 53- 



l62 



INDEX 



Japan, opening of, 33. 

Jay, John, pertinacity of on behalf of the Northwest, 31. 

Jefferson Park, 43. 

Jefferson, Thomas, aids L'Enfant in planning Washington, 

23. 25- 
Joliet, 40. 
Johnson, A. N., Illinois State Highway Commissioner, as 

to good roads, 39 (note). 
Juniper, suitable for lake-shore planting, 38. 



K 



Kankakee, 40. 

Kankakee River, 40. 

Kansas City, improvement of, 2q. 

Kenilworth, 130 

Kenosha, 39, 40, 47. 

Kcw Gardens, 48. 



La Crosse, 40. 

Lagoons, along Lake Front, 52. 

Lake Calumet, 55; park reservations near, 57. 

Lake Forest University, 120. 

Lake Front, improvement of suggested by World's Columbian 
Exposition, 6; testimony as to advantages of to Chicago, 
6; progress of plan for, 6; favored by press, 7; of right 
belongs to the people, 50; to be made from city waste, 
50, 122; improvement of, 122; legislation for improve- 
ments, 137, 138. 

Lake Michigan, driveway along shore of, 38; beauty of, 50; 
boating on, 51 ; treatment of shores, 53. 

Lake Zurich, 40, 60. 

Lanciani, L., his description of ancient Rome, 13. 

La Porte, 40. 

La Salle Street, improvement of, 107, 113. 

L'Enfant, Peter Charles, makes plan of Washington, 23, 49, 91. 

Le Notre, plans of for Paris, 15. 

Libertyville, 40. 

Lincoln Park, 43, 44, 135, 136. 

Lincoln, Abraham, embodiment of the spirit of the Middle 
West, 34; Saint-Gaudens' statue of, 112. 

Little Calumet River, 55. 

London, physical conditons in, 14; street changes, 20; cost 
of delaying improvements in, 21; opportunities offered 
by the Great Fire of 1666, 21; Sir Christopher Wren's 
plan of, 21; cost of recent improvements in, 21; cost of 
proposed new thoroughfares, 21; suburbs, 34; police 
jurisdiction, 37; rehousing of working people, 37, T07, 128; 
recreation grounds, 48; monuments, 80; housing con- 
ditions, 113; treatment of Thames, 116; influence of 
National Gallery and British Museum, 116. 

London Traffic Commission, plan for diminishing congestion, 
21. 

Louisburg, Cape Breton, a fortified city, 9. 

Louis XIV., of France, plan of Paris, 14; his plan a model 
in Europe, 19; 22, 87, 91. 

Louis Phillippe, finished Arc de Triomphe, 17. 

Los Angeles, Cal., expenditure for roads, 39 (note). 

Lutetia, original name of Paris, 14. 

M 

Mackinac, defenses of, 9. 
Mail service of Chicago, 76. 
Manhattan, 40. 
Manilla, improvement of, 29 
Manufacturers, buildings for, 86. 



Marengo, 40. 

Massachusetts, good roads in, 39 (note); metropolitan park 
commission, 131. 

Maysville, 40. 

McHenry, 40. 

Media, 10. 

Merchants' Club, Lake Front Improvements presented to, 
7; arranges for complete plan of Chicago, 7; consoli- 
dates with Commercial Club, 7. 

Metropolitan Art Museum, New York, 115. 

Michigan Avenue, the base line of Chicago, 100; traffic on, 
100; proposed improvement of, 100; grades of, 102; 
elevation of, 103; necessity for open spaces, 115, 117; the 
city has power to improve, 136, 

Michigan City, 40, 47. 

Middle Ages, conditions prevailing among European cities. 

.19. 31- 
Middle West, limits of, 31 ; Chicago the metropolis of, 31 ; 

its distinct history, 31; extent of, 32; navigable waters 

of, 32 ; phenomenal growth of, 32 ; meaning of term, 33. 
Milan, 20, 90. 
Miller, John S., on maintenance and repair of Chicago 

streets, 83. 
Millington, 40. 
Milwaukee, 38. 

Minneapolis, improvement of, 28. 
Mississippi Valley, development of, ^;^. 
Mobile, 9. 
Momence, 40. 
Monee, 40. 
Morgan, J. Pierpont, president of the American Scenic and 

Historic Preservation Society, gift of, 38 (note). 
Morris, 40. 
Mt. Forest, 55. 
Music in Chicago, 34, 120. 



N 

Nantasket Beach, Boston, bathing at, 38. 

Napierville, good roads in, 39. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, his belief in and work for Paris, 15, 
17; suggests improvements for London, 21. 

Napoleon III., transformation of Paris under, 17. 

Natural forces applied to industry, effects of, 19. 

Natural scenery, desirability of for city workers, 53. 

Newberry Library, 120. 

New Orleans, 9. 

New York, rapid growth of, i; defenses of, 9; civic improve- 
ment in, 27; railway congestion at, 62; Riverside Drive, 
116; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 109, 116; sudden 
expansion of, and waste of money in, 153. 

Newspapers of Chicago, 34. 

Nile, the, 10. 

Niles, 40. 

Noises, 74. 

North Western University, 51, 120. 

Norton, Prof. Charles Eliot, his characterization of Venice, 13. 

Nuisances, 141. 

o 

O'Day, Edward, editor of plan for San Francisco, 28 (note). 
Ohio River, 32. 

O'Meara, Dr. Barry E., his talks with Napoleon, 21. 
Ordinance of 1787, 31. 
Orient, rapid growth of cities in the, i. 

Outer belt of parks, scheme for, 7; Commission for, 41, 52, 
121; cost of, 123; legislation for, 130,133. 



INDEX 



163 



Pacific Coast, commercial development of, ^;}. 

Palisades of the Hudson, commission for, 38. 

Pallisades of the Potomac, 49. 

Palos, 56. 

Panama Canal, influence of on growth of Chicago, 33 

Parks, economic effects of 51 ; character of, 54. 

Paris, first modern city, 14; has reached the highest state of 
civic development, 14; origin of, 14; growth the result 
of commerce, 14; plans of Louis XIV., 14; new portions 
of laid out in vacant places, 14; 23; congestion of popu- 
lation, 15; grows according to a well-considered plan, 15; 
improvements of Napoleon I., 15; a center of commerce, 
17; first sidewalks in, 1 7 ; the quays, 17; commemorative 
monuments 17; plans of Napoleon III., 17; transforma- 
tions wrought by Haussmann, 17; grouping of railway 
stations, 18; compared with Chicago, 18; cost of Hauss- 
mann's improvements, 19; civic pride, 19; amount of 
foreign money spent in, 19; Wren anticipates features of 
Paris plan, 21, 54; parks, 48, 54, 87, 90, gi, 94, 108; 
treatment of Seine, 116; influence of the LouvTe, 116; 
commerical advanages of improvements, 124; condemna- 
tion of land in, 128. 

Paving, report of Commercial Club Committee on street 
paving in Chicago, 83. 

Peace, results of in Europe since 1872, 19. 

Pennsylvania Railroad, improvement of station buildings, 
77- 

People, increased participation of in government, i ; deter- 
mination to secure better conditions of life, 2. 

Pericles, character of his work, 11. 

Perkins, Dwight Heald, compiles report of the Special Park 
Commission, 44. 

Persia, 10. 

Peterson Woods, 54. 

Philadelphia, improvements in, 28; park system, 44. 

Philippine Islands, plans for summer capital in, 29. 

Pittsburg, railway congestion at, 62. 

Place de la Concorde, Paris, 15. 

Place de I'Etoile, Paris, 15. 

Place Vendome, Paris, 15, 87. 

Plainfield, 40. 

Plan of the City, necessity for, i; impossibility of perfection 
in, 2; real test of is in its application, 2; not an expense 
but a measure of economy, 4; insures orderly growth, 4. 

Planting, for Lake Shore drive, 38; winter effects should be 
studied, 78. 

Play grounds, need of, 35, 45, on Lake Front, 51. 

Pleasant Prairie, 40. 

Plutarch, his description of the works of Pericles, 11. 

Poles, disfigurement of streets by, 84. 

Police Headquarters, part of the civic center group, 116. 

Police power, extent of, 128, 140. 

Population, density of in Chicago, 48, 115. 

Post-office, 68, 76; new building for, 117. 

Potomac Park, Washington, 49. 

Potomac, treatment of banks of, no. 

President's House, (White Hou.se) the, 23. 

Providence, R. I., improvement of, 28. 

Public Health Department, 116. 

Public Libraries, 35. 

Public Library, possible location for in Grant Park, 114. 

Public Schools, 35. 

Public service plans for heating, lighting and power, 76. 

Public Works, department of, 115. 

Pullman, 58. 

Pyramids of Gizeh, 10. 



Quebec, a fortified city, 9. 



Q 



R 



Railway stations, treatment of, 36, 42; in Europe, 70; 

embellishment of, 77; grouping of on Canal and Twelfth 

Streets, no, 116. 
Railways, dependence of Chicago on, 61 ; congestion of traffic, 

62; necessity for improved terminals, 62; necessity of 

combination among to secure Chicago terminals, 62, 121; 

electrification of, 106; cost of scheme for terminals, 122 

(see also Transportation). 
Real Estate Board of Chicago, repxjrt of on Michigan .\ venue, 

lOI. 

Recreation piers, 68, 115. 

Residence streets, 83, 91. 

Revere Beach, bathing at, 38, 49. 

Richmond Park, near London, 48. 

Ringstrasse, the, Vienna, 20. 

River Forest, 55. 

Riverside, 40, 55. 

Riverside Drive, New York, no. 

Rivers, transformation of banks of, 1 16. 

Riviera, the, 51. 

Roads, John Alvord's paper on, 39 (note); in Bucna Park, 

39; from Versailles to Chartier, 39; English and French 

roads, 39; value of good roads to the community, 39; 

in Los Angeles, 39; in Illinois, 39; an adjunct of Chicago 

life, 40. 
Roanoke, Va., improvement of, 29. 
Robey, 41. 
Rogers Park, 130. 
Roman Law, unifying force of, 13. 
Rome, growth of, i ; possessed elements that characterize the 

modern city, n; parks and gardens of, 12; rejuvenation 

of, 13; baths, 13; the Forum, 13, 117, 20; suburbs, 34; 

aqueducts, 72; railway stations, 87. 
Royal British Institute of Architects, 21 (note). 
Rouen, go. 

Rue de la Paix, Paris, 15. 
Rue de Rivoli, Paris, opened by Napoleon, 15 



Sag Valley, 56. 

Saint-Gaudens, Augu.stu.s, opinion of architect's meeting 
for the World's Fair, 6 (note); statue of Lincoln, 112. 

Salt Creek, 55. 

Sandwich, 40. 

San Francisco, comprehensive plan for, 28. 

Scheldt, the, no. 

Schools, location of on highways, 39; 98. 

Seattle, improvement of, 29. 

Seine, the, 51, no. 

Senate Park Commission, the, (Daniel H. Burnham, Charles 
Follin McKim, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Frederick Law 
Olmstead, Jr.) makes plan for park system of the District 
of Columbia, 25; opposition to plan of, 25; members of 
the commission also planners of World's Columbian Expo- 
sition, 25. 

Semiramis, queen of Babylon, the first city builder, 10. 

Shaw, Albert, as to cost of delays in London planning, 21. 

Shade, advantages of in city, 84. 

Shelby, 40. 

Sherman Farm, 56. 

Sheridan Road, 39 (note), 57. 



164 



INDEX 



Sidewalks, first in Paris built by Napoleon I., 17. 

Sienna, beauty and power of, 13. 

Sistine Madonna, 112. 

Slavery excluded from the North West territory, 31. 

Slums of Chicago, 106, 129. 

Smith, Edward R., on the transformation of Paris, 18. 

Smoke, 71, 77, 112. 

Sorbonne, the, Paris, 114. 

South Chicago, 51, 52, 53. 

South Park Commissioners suggest improvement of Lake 

Front, 6; meeting of on Lake Front improvements, 6; 

arrangement for Grant park, 114; 134. 
South Parks, expansion of, 7, 44, 
Special Park Commission, plan of Metropolitan Park system, 

7, 44; report of, 46. 
Spirit of Chicago, the, 8. 
Sport Park at Stockholm, 52. 
Spring Forest, 55. 

Square of the Innocents, Paris, transformation of, 93. 
St. Charles, 40. 

St. Louis, plan for improvement of, 28. 
St. Paul's Cathedral, London, 21. 
St. Paul, Minn., improvement of, 28. 
St. Peter's Cathredral, Rome, 116. 
Statues, location of, 86. 
Steubben, German city-builder, 21 (note). 
Stockholm, yachting at, 52. 
Stony Creek, 55. 

Street plan of Chicago, cost of, 123. 

Streets, the desirable width of, 83 ; regulation of traffic on, 88. 
Submerged lands granted for park purposes, 44. 
Suburban highways, commission for, 39. 
Suburbs, apt to be ugly and squalid, 35; when attractive, 

34; connections among, 38; residents of concerned with 

city communication, 41 ; railway stations in, 77. 
Summit, 55. 

Sweden, yachting of, 52. 
Swimming, exhibition of at Stockhom, 52. 
Sycamore, 40. 

T 

Taxation, limitations on power of, 129, 151. 

Terminal railway passenger stations in Chicago, 68. 

Territory Northwest of the Ohio River, conquered by Vir- 
ginia troops, 31 ; retained as first territorial acquisition, 
31 ; diplomacy, 31 ; endowed with freedom and popular 
education, 31. 

Thames, the, London, the embankment a part of Wren's 
plan, 21 (note); use of the river on Sunday, 48, 51; 
treatment of the banks, 1 10. 

Thatchers Park, 55. 

Thoroughfares, improvement of, 37. 

Tigris River, 10. 

Town-planning in England, 21, 34, 128. 

Townships, powers of in suburban development, 130. 

Trajan's Forum in Rome, cost of, 13. 

Transportation system for Chicago, suggested, 61-76; legisla- 
tion necessary for, 139. 

Treaty of 1783, secures the Northwest, 31. 

Trees along streets, 84. 

Tuileries, gardens of the, 15. 

Twelfth Street, widening of, no, 116, 117. 

u 

Union Park, 43. 

United States, consuls furnish reports on civic improvements, 

7; offices in Chicago, 117, constitutional limitations on 

ciiy planning, 127. 



V 

Valparaiso, 40. 

Venice, a commercial city, 13; canals of, 15; St. Mark's 

Square, 117. 
Vernon Park, 43. 
Versaille.s, 39; fountains, 49. 
Vicksburg, 9. 
Vienna as a center of activity, 19; follows example of Paris 

in planning, 20; parks, 49, 80, 90; boulevards, 94; 

treatment of the Danube, 116. 
Virginia troops conquer the Northwest, 31. 

w 

Walled towns, 9. 

Washington, D. C, planned as National Capital, 22; L'En- 
fant's plan, 23; city regarded as a unit, 23; comprehensive 
character of the original plan, 23; plan ridiculed, 23; 
effect of Civil War on the city, 23; e.xtension of L'Enfant's 
plan, 23; plan of the Senate Park Commission, 23; 
Union Station, 71, 87; appartment houses, 88; ownership 
of front yards, 92; Potomac Quay, 116; influence of 
Library of Congress, 112. 

Washington, George, directs L'Enfant in planning the Federal 
City, 23-25. 

Washington Park, 44. 

Washington Square, 43. 

Waterhouse, Paul, observations on London improvements, 
21 (note). 

Waukegan, 38, 40. 

Wealth, rapid increase of in modern times, i, 19. 

Wellsboro, 40. 

West Park Commissioners, project for improvement of Lake 
Front presented to, 6, 134. 

Wlieaton, connected with Chicago by good road, 39. 

White House, the, 29. 

Williamsburg, Va., suggests features of plan of Washington, 
29. 

Wilmette, 38, 53, 130. 

Wilmington, 40. 

Wilmot, 40. 

Windsor Great Park, 48. 

Winnetka, 40, 122, 130. 

Winter Sports, 52. 

Wisconsin, coSperation of, 130. 

Women's Club, Lake Front Lnprovemcnt presented to, 6; 

Woodstock, 40. 

World's Columbian Expo.sition of 1893, origin of plan of 
Chicago traced to, 4; the beginning of orderly arrange- 
ments of public buildings and grounds, 4; results of, 6; 
suggests improvements of Lake Front, 6; spirit in which 
conceived, 6; architects present plans for, 6 (note); 
reasons for success of, 6; effect of on Washington plans, 
25; impressiveness of Peristyle, 109; cost of, 120; indi- 
cated appreciation of good order and municipal beauty, 
120. 

Working classes, English schemes for housing, 21. 

Wren, Sir Christopher, his plan of London anticipates certain 
features of Paris designs, 21; plan of Annapolis, siiuilar 
to his plan of London, 29. 



Yacht harbor, on lake front, 52, 109, 115. 
Yachting on Lake Michigan, 52. 



Zoological Park, Washington, 49. 



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